Broken Pieces
by KingLeeh
Summary: Enzo Amore has been hurt. Hurt in a way he never saw coming. Dean and Roman know a little about how that feels. Can Enzo find it in him to let anyone else in? Or is it not worth the risk to trust again?
1. Broken Promises

**So Big Cass ripped out my heart, threw it in his mouth, chewed it up real good and then puked it into the toilet when he betrayed Enzo. So while I was grieving in my room and deleting all his pictures from my phone my dad came in and said "I haven't seen you like this since that Seth guy hit those other guys with that chair thing."**

 **So then I had this idea.**

:::

06/19/17

 _I felt bad for you Enzo._

 _Your mouth writes cheques that your ass can't cash._

 _You're the reason I've never been a champion in the WWE!_

 _You and me are through._

 _You and me are through._

Enzo Amore opened his eyes with a gasp and was met with the familiar white lights of a hospital. Why did he always end up in a damn hospital? God damn it.

"Enzo?" Enzo turned his head to see the general manager standing on the other side of the room.

"Kurt?" He asked groggily, "What are you doin' here? What happened this time? Where's Cass? He hurt too?"

Angle opened his mouth but didn't answer, he came closer to Enzo's bed and cleared his throat..

Enzo sat up a bit, leaning on his elbows, "What happened?"

"Enzo," said Kurt slowly, "Cass... Cass isn't here."

The look on his face made Enzo's heart drop to the pit of his stomach. He blinked.

"It wasn't a dream was it." he realised.

Kurt shook his head, "I'm sorry, no."

Enzo blinked, feeling his breaths go slower. He lay back down, and closed his eyes again. He had been hoping it was a dream. Praying really. That it was just another nightmare. It's not like he'd never had nightmares like that before. Nightmares about his best friend betraying him, spitting in his face and telling him that he was a waste of space. Calling him weak and useless and not worth a dime. He had the nightmare over and over again and when he woke up gasping, Big Cass was always there to tell him that it was just a dream. Just a nightmare that would never come true. That's what Big Cass always told him.

Apparently, he lied.

Cass lied.

Enzo opened his eyes again, this time little drops of moisture decorating the corners. He tried to blink them away but that only made them roll down the side of his face. Enzo sat up and swung his legs to the floor.

"Can I go?" he asked Angle, his eyes not looking up at him, "Nothin's wrong with me, right? I can go?"

Kurt sighed, "Technically you can, but I'd rather... Enzo wait."

Enzo didn't wait for the sentence to finish. He stood up and made for the door.

"Thanks for staying, Kurt. I'll just go now."

"I don't think..." Kurt sighed, knowing that Enzo wouldn't listen, "Alright then. But at least let me give you a ride."

Enzo opened the door, "No thanks I'll walk."

"Amore-"

"Thanks Kurt" Enzo said again before walking out and shutting the door behind him.

Enzo walked as if his legs were on auto pilot. He found his way out of the hospital with no problem. It wasn't the first time he had had to walk out of one after an injury. It was the first time he had had to do it alone though. Because Cass was always there, just like he promised he would. Except not this time.

Because Cass lied.

Evansville Indiana. Enzo wasn't familiar with the place. In fact after 5 minutes of walking he was hopelessly lost. Not that he minded at all. He just walked, head down and feet basically dragging behind him. He was dizzy too. His eyes blurring at the edges and his feet stumbling every couple of steps. He didn't know if it was from the blow to his head or the fact that his chest was practically empty. Either way, if he kept going like this, he was likely to fall into the road and get run over.

Not that he minded at all.

Enzo did eventually stop. He saw a bench, and he dropped down on it, not at all gently. He put his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands and he let out a shuddering breath that he had been holding in since he woke up on that hospital bed. He sat like that, breathing and blinking. Breathing and blinking. That was all he could do. That was all he could will himself to do. He didn't know how long he stood there. It could have been hours or minutes. He couldn't think about time, he was too busy breathing and blinking. Breathing and blinking. Breathing and blin-

"Here. You look like you need one."

Enzo stopped blinking. He turned his head slowly and saw that he was no longer alone on the bench in the middle of nowhere. Someone was sitting there, a small cooler box in front of him, a beer in his right hand, and another one on his left, being held out to Enzo. Enzo frowned when he saw that it was none other than Dean Ambrose.

When Enzo stayed silent, Dean offered the beer again, "Trust me, you need it."

Enzo didn't feel much like moving, but he found himself taking the beer nonetheless. He nodded his thanks and then opened it to take a drink.

Head still hung and beer in both hands, Enzo stayed quiet. Next to him, Dean was quiet too, just drinking his beer and looking at the sky.

"What are you doing here?" asked Enzo finally.

Dean shrugged, "I left the Arena early and decided to take a walk. I was supposed to meet Roman at a bar but I got lost. He's on his way to pick me up now."

"How does he know where you are?"

"He got a tracking device put in my phone," said Dean, "I get lost a lot."

Enzo snorted and took another drink, "Cass gets lost a lot too. I'm always telling him to wear a bell."

At the mention of Cass, Enzo lifted the beer to his lips and downed half the bottle.

"I heard what happened." Said Dean quietly, "Wasn't there to see it but I watched at the bar I was at and-"

"I don't wanna talk about it," said Enzo,

Dean nodded, "That's cool. I'm not that much of a listener anyway so-"

"I don't get it." Enzo cut him off.

"So... you do wanna talk about it?" Dean cleared his throat, looking around, "You should wait for Roman he's better at-"

"We were doing fine. We were doing great. Sure we weren't winning matches all over the place but... but we were doing great." Enzo downed the rest of his beer, luckily Dean had another on standby.

"Why'd he do it?" he asked quietly. He turned to Dean, "Why would he do that to me?"

"Roman should only be a few minutes, I'm sure he-"

"We been partners for 4 years." Enzo continued, "We been best friends for longer. I've been to hell and back with that guy and now he-" he stopped to take a breath when his voice croaked.

"Why would he do this to me?" he asked in a whisper.

Dean had said before. He wasn't much good in these situations. He never knew what do say. And if he did say something, he usually ended up making it worse. But for some reason, he felt like being quiet right now wasn't the way to go.

"I know how you feel," he said.

Enzo scoffed, "No you don't.

Dean raised an eyebrow, "Look who you're talking to. Trust me, I know."

Enzo looked up and remembered, "Right. Sorry. I forgot."

Dean shrugged, "I know. It's old news."

Enzo frowned up at him, "How did you get over it? You and Roman. How'd you deal?"

Dean shrugged, "I didn't. This probably isn't what you wanna hear, but you don't just get over something like that. But you do deal with it." He snorted, "Hell, the whole WWE universe saw how I dealt with it. I kicked his ass every chance I got. Roman... he just tried to pretend it didn't happen. Then he went to therapy. He's real put together that way."

"Therapy," snorted Enzo, "I don't think that's gonna help me."

"Yeah, Rome only lasted a week."

They sat in silence for a while again after that. Enzo went through another beer. He was on his third when a dark blue truck pulled up behind them. The person inside rolled down the window.

"Dean?"

Dean turned around, "About damn time, Rome!"

Enzo heard Roman sigh loudly and turn the engine off. He heard him approach the bench and sat on Dean's other side. "Hey Enzo." Enzo raised his glass in greeting.

Roman reached into the cooler and then paused, "Dean. What happened to the beer?" he asked.

"What? There's still some in there."

"There's one!"

"Yeah. You're welcome."

Roman groaned, "Bitch."

"Jerk." Dean smiled back, "And don't worry, we're still going to the bar anyway, right?" he turned to Enzo, "We're going to a bar. You coming?"

Enzo shrugged, "Thanks. But I think I'll just go to bed and cry a lot." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he winced, "Did I say that out loud?"

Dean nodded, "You did."

"Nothing's wrong with crying once in a while," shrugged Roman opening the last beer.

Dean nudged Enzo, "Told you he's all in touch with his feelings."

"What?" Roman frowned at Dean, "What did you say? What are you telling people? Enzo he lied."

"Relax Roman I didn't tell him about your teddy bear collection. We were just talking about how you dealt with the whole Seth thing."

Roman glared, "Why were you talking about how I dealt with..." he paused when he realised, "Oh."

He looked at Enzo, who was still nursing his beer in both hands, "Right, I saw what went down."

Enzo shrugged, "It ain't a big deal."

Roman and Dean glanced at each other and then at the broke down looking man next to them. Dean subtly jerked his head towards Enzo.

"Talk to him," he mouthed to Roman.

Roman looked at Enzo again, and then sighed. He stood up and went to the other side of the bench so that Enzo was sitting between the two of them.

"Listen Amore," he said, "Cass is an idiot."

Enzo just scoffed.

"I mean it, he is. He did what he did 'cause he fell in that same trap half the roster fell in. The whole 'looking out for number 1' thing. In a couple years it's gonna come back to bite him in the ass, trust me."

Enzo didn't answer. He just looked at his beer.

"I heard everything he said in the ring," Roman continued, "You know it's not true."

"Is it," said Enzo quietly.

"No it's-"

"It is." He snapped, "I know you're tryna help but I ain't stupid. Everything he said is damn true. I have been holding him back." Enzo ran a hand over his face as he gulped down the lump in his throat. Now that he had started he didn't think he'd be able to stop. "Cass is good. He's damn good in that ring and if it weren't for me he'd probably be a champ by now, I know it."

"Enzo-"

"And I know what it's like teaming up with me," he continued, "I know I talk too much and I know I'm too much to handle and I know I run my mouth to hell and back. I know how damn annoying I can be, people tell me every damn day. Every friend I've ever had has left me 'cause of how I am and I get it. Believe me, I get it. But Cass-" his voice choked "Cass was supposed to be different. He swore he was different. He swore he'd never ditch me like everyone else did. He swore he'd never leave like that." He had to stop talking because the lump in his throat was too big to let words through. His fingers tightened around the half empty beer as a tear rolled from his cheek onto the glass, "How could he do that to me?" he whispered, "How could he say those things to me? It ain't like I don't know. It ain't like I don't know that nobody likes me in the back. But I just don't care. It don't matter because _Cass_ likes me. Cass _loves_ me. He's my brother, he's always there so it don't matter what everybody thinks of me because I got Cass." He shook his head, taking another gulp from his beer, "Well, I _had_ Cass."

Dean and Roman glanced at each other, looking over his head. Just like Dean had said, they knew how Enzo felt. They had been there. And 3 years later, it still hurt like a bitch. They knew what Enzo was going through, but they had no idea what to do to make him feel better. Hell, they didn't think anything _could_ make him feel better at this point. Dean and Roman had been just as shocked as everyone else when Corey Graves put up that footage, if not more. The two hardly agreed on anything, but when those attacks on Enzo started, they were both willing to bet that it definitely wasn't Cass. No way it could've been Big Cass. They had been sure.

But then again, they had been just as sure that Seth wouldn't stab them in the back.

"You know Enzo," said Dean quietly, "It's not true that no one likes you."

Enzo snorted.

"Honestly," said Dean, "I mean sure you are pretty annoying, and you do talk a lot and you've got that weird beard and that confusing hair and those really loud clothes and that god awful dancing and-"

Roman cleared his throat loudly, shutting Dean up.

"My point," continued Dean, "Is that if you weren't all those things, you'd just be... normal. And nobody likes normal. Well _I_ don't at least."

"Me either," said Roman, "If I did I'd probably be sleeping instead of sitting here with you two on a park bench in a strange town."

Enzo couldn't help but smile at his lap.

"So, to the bar now?"

"Dean," sighed Roman, "It's almost 2 am. What we all need is sleep."

"Come on Rome. It's been a bad night for all of us. I mean I got ambushed, you lost a match, Enzo got-"

"Hey," Roman snapped, "I did not lose."

Dean sighed, "Roman-"

"I didn't! He did not pin me, therefore, I don't think it should count."

"Roman you passed out."

"That wasn't my fault." He snarled, getting angry, "He did not pin me, therefore I did not lose. Simple as that."

Dean tried hard not to smirk. He nudged Enzo softly, "You'll come to learn that Roman really doesn't like losing."

"Ambrose, I did not lose!" he exclaimed, all but stomping his foot.

"Fine. Fine," Dean held his hands up, "You feel like going to the bar yet?"

Roman just snarled at him, "You're a bitch you know that?"

"I know." Smirked Dean.

Between them, Enzo snorted despite himself, and Dean almost glowed with pride. Maybe he wasn't as bad at making people feel better as he thought.

Enzo lifted a hand to rub the moisture off his face. He frowned, "I think I might have cried a bit in the ring," he said quietly, "Do you think anyone saw that?"

"Oh yeah," nodded Dean, "It was really obvious with your face being pink and your eyes all wet and there was also-" he stopped when he saw Roman silently screaming at him to shut up. Dean cleared his throat, "I mean, no. No, I don't think anyone saw."

Enzo sighed and Roman rubbed his face, "Alright, I think it's time to go back to the hotel now."

He stood up and took the empty cooler in front of Dean. Dean stood up after him and Enzo raise his beer, "See ya." He said quietly.

Roman frowned, "uh, when I said, 'we' I meant you too."

Enzo just shook his head, "I can't go there."

"Why not?" asked Dean.

Enzo sighed, "We share a room." He said simply.

Dean and Roman glanced at each other. Oh.

"Well," started Roman, "You could sleep in our room tonight. We got two big beds and Dean can sleep on the couch."

"Why do I gotta sleep on the couch?" muttered Dean, but he shut up after a nudge from Roman.

"Come on Amore, you know we're not gonna leave you in the middle of nowhere."

Enzo finally looked up at them warily, "I'll be fine, I-"

"Don't make me carry you," said Roman, crossing his arms "Cause I will. Like a sack of potatoes."

Dean nodded, "He ain't kidding.

They waited while Enzo eyes them to see if they were being serious. They were. So he found himself following the two to Roman's truck that was parked on the side of the road.

As soon as the car roared to life, Dean fiddled with the radio until Bon Jovi rang out.

"Oh come on," groaned Roman.

Dean ignored him and sang loudly about being a cowboy.

The hotel wasn't as far as Enzo thought it was, meaning he hadn't been that lost in the first place. Because it was so late (or early) the lobby was empty, and so were all the hallways, so the three got to Roman and Dean's room with no interruptions.

"Take that bed." Said Roman to Enzo. Amore just stood there with his hands in his pockets.

"I'll take the couch." He shrugged. "Seriously," he said when they were about to protest, "Thanks. For everything, really. You didn't have to do any of this for me, so thanks. And I get that you're probably feeling real sorry for me right now after the whole crying in front of the world thing, but I'm good. And I'm invading your space enough as it is, I can't take your bed too."

Dean and Roman looked at each other and sighed.

"Look," said Dean, "Obviously you're not getting it. You had a shitty night. You're about to have a shitty sleep. And, that thing you're feeling in your chest right now? It's only gonna get worse. Trust us. We know. And there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. But one thing we can do is give you a bed. So when we tell you to sleep in the fucking bed, we mean, sleep in the fucking bed. Not because we're feeling sorry for you, not because we think you're weak for crying, but because you need. A fucking. Bed."

Enzo looked at Dean wide eyed as he spoke. When he finished, he blinked and nodded quickly, "Okay."

Dean smiled, "Good. Bathrooms there if you need to change. I assume you don't wanna sleep in leather."

Enzo took a step towards the bathroom, and then stopped.

"Your bags are in your hotel room aren't they." Said Roman.

Enzo nodded with a sigh.

"You got your room key?"

Enzo nodded, but it was obvious from the look on his face that he really didn't want to go up there, "You know what, I think I'll just sleep in leather."

Roman scoffed, and held out his hand, "Nah, just give me the key I'll get your stuff."

Enzo's eyebrows went up, "What? No, no, that's okay you don't gotta-"

"Amore." Roman's tone shut Enzo up, and the look on his face told him to just listen. So reluctantly, Enzo pulled the room key out of his pocket and handed it over.

"How do I know which stuff is yours?" asked Roman as he made for the door. Enzo snorted, "You'll know."

When he left, Dean grinned at Enzo, "See? Told you he's good at this."

Enzo and Cass's room was a floor above Dean and Roman's. Considering it was the early hours of the morning, Big Cass was probably in there. Sleeping peacefully while Enzo had to fight to keep from crying again. Roman's teeth were clenched as he slid the key into the door. His anger at the seven footer surprised him, considering he and Enzo were far from close. Well, before tonight. In fact, he didn't remember ever talking to the man except for today. Maybe it was because they didn't really have anything in common before. Well now they did. They were both victims of betrayal, and sharing something like that kinda drew people together in his opinion. Maybe that was why he felt such a strong urge to bash Cass's brains out in his sleep.

As it turned out, Big Cass wasn't sleeping. When Roman let himself in, Cass wasn't even in the room. Probably a good thing too, so Roman could just get Enzo's stuff and be out. When he flipped on the switch, he saw that Enzo had been right. Roman new immediately what was his and what was Cass's. Half the bags in the room were plain black. The other half were so brightly coloured in animal print that Roman almost had to squint. The bags were far heavier than they looked. And there was a lot of them too. But Roman was more of a 'one trip' kinda guy, so he heaved bag after bag over his shoulders and neck and arms until he had them all.

Getting through the door was a mission, but he managed. He had to close the door with his foot and yank the key out with one finger. He was already tired and he wasn't even at the stairs yet. Roman started down the hallway towards his own room weighed down by way too many clothes, when at the end of the hallway, the elevator doors opened, and from them emerged the seven foot figure.

"Speak of the devil," muttered Roman to himself.

Big Cass stopped when he saw Roman, and what he was holding. He smirked.

"So Enzo found someone else to do his heavy lifting already huh?"

Roman gritted his teeth but didn't answer. Big Cass leaned against the wall on his side, crossing his arms, "You Reigns? I never woulda called it." Roman kept walking, "A word of advice for ya. Get rid of Amore as soon as you can. Me? I waited too long, but damn it feels good to be away from that pain in the ass."

Roman could almost feel smoke blowing out of his nose, but he just told himself to keep walking.

"Trust me." Continued Cass, "There's nothing like losing some dead weight. And if you were smart you'd get rid of Ambrose. I hear he ain't worth the trouble he causes,"

That's when Roman finally stopped walking. By now he was right in front of Cass, who was blocking the elevator.

The seven footer obviously wasn't as smart as he thought, because he kept talking, "Friends ain't gonna get you anywhere in the WWE." He said, "I been learning that the hard way. Honestly you have no idea how could it felt to get everything off my chest. And to embarrass him in front of all his little fans?" he shook his head with a grin, "Damn that was good."

One by one, Roman started putting the bags down. Cass obviously didn't notice, because he kept talking. And talking. And talking. By the time, he noticed, all the bags were on the floor.

"You taking those to him ain't you?' he nodded at the bags, "Well when you see Enzo, tell him something for me."

Roman snarled, "I don't think Enzo wants to hear anything from you. And he sure ain't got nothing to say to you. And besides, I'm not a messenger boy," he said, "I'm just a delivery boy. And you're in my way."

Cass just snorted, "Whatever Reigns." He walked past Roman, bumping his shoulder as he went. Roman gritted his teeth. He closed his eyes, willing himself to just get in the damn elevator and just get to the damn room and just-

"Hey Cassady," he called, turning around. Cass turned.

Roman stepped over the bags and walked closer, "Enzo might not have anything to say, but I sure do."

"Yeah?" snorted Cass, "And what's-" he didn't get to finish the sentence, only gasping as a flying fist hit him square in the temple. His giant body crumbled to the floor, completely knocked out, Roman sighed as he flexed his fingers. He had tried to keep walking. He really did. But sometimes people just needed to get punched.

When Roman got back to the room, Dean was watching TV on the couch with a bowl of peanuts and Enzo looked fast asleep on one of the beds.

"You get lost?" asked Dean. Roman shook his head as he put the bags down.

"I ran into Cassady."

Dean raised his eyebrows as he looked at Roman. His jaw was still clenched and his eyes had that look.

"What did you do?" he asked.

Roman shrugged, "Nothing."

Dean snorted, "Really."

"Mh mmh." Roman nodded, "Nothing at all."

Dean just looked at him.

"Well," said Roman slowly, "he might've ran into my fist a bit. But that's all."

Dean snorted, "Of course."

Once all the bags were down, Roman joined Dean on the couch. He looked back at the sleeping Enzo spread out on the bed.

"You think he'll be okay?"

Dean sighed, "Not for a long time."

Roman nodded and took a handful from the bowl.

"But we turned out all right, right?" said Dean, "Took a while, but we're good."

"Yeah," said Roman, "but that's cause we weren't alone. Cass is all he had."

Dean shrugged, "Yeah well, he's not alone either," he said, "Not anymore."


	2. Broken Pieces

_6/26/17_

Enzo Amore opened his eyes and was met with the familiar white lights of a hospital. He had ended up in hospital.

Again.

For the second Monday in a row. Except unlike the week before, it didn't take him long to figure out what had happened.

Cass had happened. For the second week in a row, Big Cass had put him in hospital.  
Enzo thought that last week had been hard. That night he had slept for an hour before a big boot from his dreams shocked him awake, and kept him awake for days after. He thought it hurt _them_ obsessively recounting every single word Cass had said. Every word that had chipped away at his insides until there was nothing in his chest but an empty ribcage, He thought _that_ had hurt. He thought _that_ had broken his heart. Well that was nothing compared to how he felt now.

How could he do this?

How could Cass do this?

Enzo had put everything on the line. He had poured out his heart and soul in front of the whole WWE Universe. He had risked a whole lot more than just his pride, because he had made the mistake of believing in friendship. Believing in family. Believing in Big Cass.  
And the bastard had spat in his face. But not before making him believe that he was sorry. Not before making Enzo think that they were okay. And then he had pulled the rug out from under his feet, humiliating him in front of the world.

How could he _do_ that?

Enzo stayed lying on the bed staring at the ceiling for a long time. He was alone this time. No Kurt. He didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed. His body felt numb while still managing to hurt like a bitch. There was a throbbing on his cheek that could mean a bruise or a cut. He didn't really care to check. His wrist was wrapped up, probably strained, maybe broken. He didn't really care. The rest of him felt like it had been thrown down a ramp by a really big person.

Oh wait, it had.

Enzo shook the thoughts out of his head. Well, he tried to at least. For some reason, he didn't think that he'd be forgetting that anytime soon.

Using his uninjured hand, Enzo pushed himself to a sitting position, deciding to finally get up. He got ready to swing his legs over the edge of the bed when he got a look outside the hospital room window. He closed his eyes and cursed under his breath when his eyes met those if the two people standing outside his room.

Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns.

He quickly lay back down, hoping to avoid them, but it was too late. They had seen him, and they were coming.

Enzo did not want to see them right now. Frankly, he was embarrassed, because they had warned him. They had warned over and over, and he had basically told them to go to hell.

* _One week earlier*_

"You're going to him?"

Enzo jumped at the voice that was suddenly behind him.

"Dude!" You can't sneak up on people like that!"

Roman just narrowed his eyes, "Are you seriously going to him?"

Enzo just huffed, trying to avoid the question, "Did you follow me?"

"Well, yeah. Usually when people sneak out of a hotel room at 6 a.m. they're up to no good. And no surprise, I find you on this floor. So I ask again, are you going to him?"

Enzo looked at the wall behind Roman, "Alright, yes. Yes, I'm going to him. He's not answering my calls and we gotta talk. We gotta sort this out."

Roman blinked, "I'm sorry, sort this out?"

Enzo nodded, "Look, he said some stuff last night, and I know Cass. I know he didn't mean it, it was the stress talking. He's real bad with stress, makes him all cranky, and that's why he did what he did I know it. So… so I'm, just gonna go talk to him and we'll straighten this mess out."

Roman listened to him with a growing sadness in his eyes. Enzo didn't like that look. It meant Roman was feeling sorry for him.

"Enzo-"

"No. Whatever you're going to say, I don't wanna hear it, okay? You don't know Cass like I do, alright? He just wasn't himself last night. That wasn't him."  
Enzo was determined. And he was sure. And nothing Roman said was going to stop him.

Roman sighed, "Dude, it's 6 . Nobody's awake right now, at least wait a couple hours."

Enzo hesitated, and Roman took the opportunity to shove him gently in the direction of their room.

"But I really need to talk to him."

"Yeah, okay," yawned Roman, "Later."

He all but marched Enzo back to the room, shadowing him like a bodyguard until he was inside and the door was closed.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" Roman asked, noticing that there wasn't a trace of sleepiness on Enzo's face.

"A couple hours," the smaller man shrugged.

"Well then sleep a couple more," Roman said in a voice that sounded a lot like an order. He even waited until Enzo got back into his bed before he himself went to the other. He pushed Dean's heavy limbs back to his side before getting under the covers. He meant to stay awake long enough to make sure that Enzo didn't try to leave again, but he was asleep within a minute.

Enzo, however, did stay awake. He had had every intention to sleep like Roman had said, but he just couldn't. So he lay there and thought about what he was going to say to Cass. In the end, he couldn't wait a couple more hours. He managed about 15 minutes before he was up and out the door again. He hurried to the floor above. To the room he _should_ have slept in. To the room he _would_ have slept in if Cass hadn't…

Enzo shook the thought out of his head. No use thinking about that now. It was in the past. That's why he was going to Cass, so they could talk about this and put it in the past. He was going to give Cass a chance to explain himself. To apologise. To tell him that he hadn't meant any of that crap. And then Enzo would forgive him and everything would go back to normal. To how it should be. Enzo and Cass verses the world.

Enzo nodded to himself as he reached the door. He slid the key in the lock, opened the door and… and it was empty.

The room was empty.

Bed made, bags gone, empty.

He already left.

Enzo didn't know how long he stood in that doorway, just staring into the empty room.  
He actually left.

Enzo had been expecting him to be there. Waiting for him to come back. Surely Cass had been worried when Enzo didn't come. Right? He should have been worried. He should have been sitting on the bed waiting for Enzo to come so that they could put this madness behind them and get back to normal. Why wasn't he here waiting? He knew that they travelled together. He knew that they used one car. How could Cass leave?

Without him?

Enzo closed the door slowly. He walked back to Dean and Roman's room in a daze. They were both still asleep, so Enzo got back into bed quietly, laying back down but not closing his eyes.

How could Cass leave him?

:::

Dean woke up knowing that it was too damn early. His mind and body could always tell when he was awake ahead of time, and right now his mind and body were telling him to go the fuck back to sleep. But he couldn't, because something was keeping him up. Probably the same thing that had woken him up in the first place.

"Cass pick up your phone man, you know we gotta talk."

Dean blinked his eyes open and lifted his head to see Enzo Amore pacing the room, stabbing angrily at his phone. He frowned as he lifted it to his ear again.

"'Mella, I know you're asleep, but call me as soon as you're up. Please."

He took the phone from his ear again and went back to tapping frantically at the keys.  
Dean looked to his side to see Roman sitting up in bed, watching the scene and looking tired. When he saw Dean awake, he sighed.

"He's been at this for half an hour." He said quietly.

"Cass," Enzo spoke into the phone again, "Man seriously, answer your damn phone."

Over and over again, Enzo paced with his phone.

"Mom. Hey mom, Yeah, I'm fine. No I… did you watch the show last night? …. Book club at eight?... No, no don't watch it. I just wanted to know if you've heard from Cass? No Okay thanks mom. Yeah mom. ….Okay mom. …Yeah. Okay…. Bye mom."

"Hey Ma. Yeah, I'm fine. … Ya heard from your son lately?... Yeah, Colin….As in today?... No? Alright thanks. Yeah Ma…. Okay Ma… By Ma."

"Carmella, how long do ya sleep? I need ya to call me, ASAP."

'Cass, come one man, pick up the phone. Dude please just.. just talk to me. Please."

Dean and Roman watched as he made the calls, desperation growing with every passing minute. They looked at each other with identical looks of worry.

It's only then that Enzo noticed them.

"Oh," he said, "You're up. Sorry if I woke ya, I thought I was bein' quiet."

Roman blinked, "No problem," he cleared his throat, "Uh… what's up?"

Enzo shook his head, looking back down at his phone, "I just… I'm tryna get a hold'a Cass."  
Roman and Dean shared a glance.

"Is … is that the best idea?" asked Roan slowly.

"No," said Dean, "That's an awful idea. Why are you doing that?"

"I just need to talk to him," Enzo said looking down.

Dean blinked, honestly confused, "Why? I don't get it. I mean, unless you wanna kick the shit out of him. That I get. But something tells me that's not what you're going for."

"I just need to talk to him." Enzo repeated, "Last night was stressful for him. Graves put him on the spot, that's why he said… said all that stuff. I know if I give 'im a chance to explain he'll,"

"That's bullshit."

"Dean-" warned Roman, only to be ignored.

"That's crap and you know it, Amore."

Enzo clenched his teeth, "it's not. If I just talk to him-"

"What? What do you think will happen? He'll tell you he's sorry and he didn't mean it?"

"Yes!"

Dean sighed, "Come on man."

"Stop it," Enzo burst, "Stop acting like ya know him. Ya don't know him! I do! I _know_ Cass and I _know_ he didn't mean it so I just need to talk to him so he can say so. He didn't mean it! He couldn't'a meant it!"

Enzo stared at them, his chest rising and falling and his eyes wide. Wide and hurt and hopeful, filled with desperation for his words to be true.

Before the other two could say a thing, Enzo's phone beeped. His eyes snapped to the scree, hoping it was Cass. It wasn't.

"That's my ride." He said quietly.

Dean and Roman looked at each other and then back at had been so preoccupied with the pacing that they hadn't noticed that he was fully dressed, all his bags waiting by the door.

"Your ride?' asked Roman.

Enzo nodded, "Cass left with our car," he said quietly, "So I called a cab. Might still be able to catch up with him."

He started to pick up his bags.

"Enzo-"

"Thanks for everything." He said, opening the door and nodding back at them, "See ya."

And he was gone.

:::

He didn't end up catching up with Cass and their car. He ended up taking the cab all the way to his place in Chicago, leaving the driver with a huge tip as thanks for driving him so far.  
He spent the week calling Cass. And calling and calling and calling.

He never picked up. He never answered any of his messages.

Carmella never called him back either. Not that he expected her to. After Cass had dumped her for spending too much time with that Ellsworth guy, Enzo had taken Cass's side and he hadn't spoken to 'Mella in a very long time. He had been a real shitty friend, so it was no surprise that she didn't feel like talking to him.

He didn't seen Roman and Dean until the night of the show in Los Angeles. He really wasn't looking forward to seeing them either. He knew how pathetic they probably thought he was. He didn't wanna have to see that look on their faces again. The kinda look you gave a child who believed they had an imaginary friend.

But it was kinda hard to avoid people in the arena, which was weird considering how big it was. And walking the place alone for the first time, Enzo could truly appreciate how damn huge the place was.  
It felt weird being alone. He was so used to having a presence behind him that now that it was gone, he felt exposed. Naked. And not in a good way. He didn't like it. And that's why he was going to do what he was going to do tonight. If Cass didn't want to talk in private, then he'd have no choice but to answer when he called him out in front of everybody. But as a last ditch effort, Enzo searched the arena for him anyway, hoping maybe they didn't have to take it to the ring. As luck would have it, instead of running into Cass, he rounded a corner to see Roman and Dean standing outside one of the locker rooms.. He saw them before they saw him. He stood there long enough to contemplate turning around, but they saw him before he could decide.

"Hey look, it's Enzo." Said Dean, "Hey Enzo."

Enzo tried to smile with tight lips. Why were they here? This wasn't even the locker room that they used. Plus they were already changed into their gear. Well, Roman had changed, Dean always just fought in whatever he was wearing.

"Hey." Enzo cleared his throat, "Uh, what are you doing here?"

"Uh, nothing." Said Roman. "Just hanging out. And stuff. What are you doing here?"  
"Well, this is my locker room."

"Oh right." Nodded Roman, "We didn't know that. What a coincid-?"

"So did you talk to Cass?" Dean interrupted, evidently tired of stalling for the reason they were actually here.

Enzo sighed, "No. No I didn't."

"Are you still trying to?" Dean asked.

Enzo clenched his teeth, knowing where this was going, "yeah, I am."

"Is that why your name's on the line-up?" asked Roman.

"Yeah actually, it is." Said Enzo, getting annoyed. Especially when they shared a look before turning to him.

There was that look again.  
"Is that the best idea, Enzo?" asked Roman slowly.

"Of course not," scoffed Dean, "That's a terrible idea. Dude, this isn't going to go how you want it to."

"You don't know that."

"Look we can't stop you," said Roman, "But man, I really don't think you should-"

"What is it with you guys?" Enzo snapped. "Why the hell do you even care?"

Dean was about to yell back, but Roman stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"We're just looking out for you, that's all," he said calmly.

"I don't need you to look out for me. _Cass_ looks out for me."

"Enzo."

" _He's_ my friend. He's my brother, not you two, Cass! And he knows that, I just gotta remind him a bit, that's all. So back off will ya?"

With that, Enzo shoved passed them and down the hallway.

Dean and Roman watched him go with simultaneous sighs.

"Well that was mean," muttered Dean as they walked towards the cafeteria.

"Well can you blame him?" shrugged Roman, "He's in denial. The dude just lost his best friend. And he's probably gonna lose him again tonight."

"You know, for his sake," said Dean, "I really hope we're wrong."

They weren't wrong.

:::

Roman knocked once before entering Enzo's hospital room. He was lying down with his eyes closed.

"We know you're awake," said Dean, "We saw you see us."

Enzo cursed in his mind before opening his eyes again. He just looked at him for a while, and they just looked at him.

"Okay, go ahead," he sighed, "Say it."

Dean opened his mouth, the 'I told you so' on the tip of his tongue, but Roman stopped him with an elbow to the chest.

Dean glared at Roman, but he didn't say it.

"How long have you been out?" he asked instead.

Enzo shrugged. "I remember the refs dragging me to the back and that's about it."

"I saw you coming in about an hour after I did," said Roman, "I gotta say you look pretty awful."

Enzo snorted but shrugged, clearly not wanting to talk about it, "They brought you here?"

Roman nodded, "Hit my head pretty hard when Strowman roughed me up, and you know how Kurt insists we get checked out for every little scratch," he snorted, "Can you believe they brought me here in the same ambulance he threw me in? I mean, that's just insulting."

Dean snorted, but tried to cover it up by coughing when Roman shot him a death glare.

"Yeah. Totally insulting. And not funny at all."

The glare didn't soften, so Dean turned his attention to Enzo.

"The Doc said you can leave as soon as you wake up. So let's go."

Enzo blinked, "Go?"

"Well are you planning on sleeping here tonight?"

Enzo shook his head.

"Well then let's go."

Dean left the room, and Roman waited for Enzo to follow him before leaving and closing the door behind him.

"You get a hotel room tonight?" asked Roman as they walked through the hospital.

Enzo shook his head. He had been expecting to share with Cass tonight. Because it had never occurred to him that anything would go wrong. He'd planned everything around the two of them getting back together, because he had that much faith in Cass.

Well, live and learn, right?

"Where do you live anyway?" asked Dean.

"I got places in New York, Orlando and Chicago," said Enzo.

Roman frowned, "Seriously? All those places are on one side of the country. That's kinda defeating the whole point of living in three places dude."

"Yeah, I know," sighed Enzo, "But Cass had places in L.A, Idaho and New Mexico. So it balanced out."

There was a silence, as there always was when someone mentioned Cass.

Roman cleared his throat. "Well Dean lives close enough; you can crash with us before we hit the road tomorrow."

Enzo looked up, genuinely surprised, "Really?"

"Well we can't leave you to get lost in Hollywood," said Dean matter of factly as they approached Roman's dark blue truck.

Dean took the keys from Roman, "I'll drive, since I'm the only one who didn't get beat up tonight."

Roman rolled his eyes but let him drive, taking the passenger seat and Enzo getting in the back. First they went to the arena to pick up Enzo's stuff, and then leaving there was a bit of a challenge seeing as the place was still crawling with fans. Someone saw Dean through the window and went crazy, starting a reaction from the rest of the crowd. Dean rolled down the window and waved, but didn't stop the car. People yelled after them, chanting for Dean and Roman. Enzo thanked his lucky stars that no one saw him in the backseat. The chants were ignorable enough until someone yelled, "YOU SUCK ROMAN!"

Roman only rolled his eyes, but Dean didn't take it that well. He stuck his head and shoulders out the window, looked back and yelled, " _YOU_ SUCK," in the general direction of the crowd.

Apparently he had forgotten that he was driving, and Enzo yelped as the car swerved, Roman cursing as he leapt over to grab the wheel and avoid driving off the road.  
When Dean was fully back in the car, he turned to Roman, "You're welcome," he smiled before taking the wheel back.

Roman stared at him, exasperated, "You crazy son of a bitch you almost got us killed!"

"After defending your honour." He patted Roman's shoulder, "So you're welcome."

He just sat back in his seat, shaking his head.

"Does that happen a lot?" Enzo asked from the back.

"People saying I suck or Dean almost crashing the car?" asked Roman. He thought for a moment, "Actually now that I think about it, both those things happen quite a lot."

Enzo mulled over that information and then sat back, deciding that maybe he should put on his seatbelt.

:::

It was a four hour drive to Vegas, but Dean's reckless driving and disregard of the rules of the road got them there in three. They didn't talk much as they drove, only the radio breaking the silence. Enzo had a feeling that it was for his benefit. They also hadn't mentioned anything about Cass. Or about the fact that he had humiliated Enzo again that night, just like Dean and Roman had said he would.

Enzo didn't get it. This was the second week in a row where he had nowhere to go and Dean and Roman, two people he had basically never spoken to until recently, just swooped in and helped him out. Even after he had been a complete dick to them earlier that night.

He really didn't get it.

Enzo was pulled out of his thoughts when the car stopped. He looked out the window to see a big house, a little away from the big shining lights.

"Home sweet home," sighed Dean as he killed the engine.

He turned to the others with a grin ,"Who's up for a beer?"

Roman snorted, "A beer? What's wrong with you? What we all need is a bed."

Dean snorted, opening the car door, "Who says you can't have a beer in bed?"

Roman shook his head as he too got out the car, muttering something about 'fucking Lunatic'.

The two were out for a while before they realised that the back door was still closed.

They stuck their heads back into the car, frowning when they saw Enzo just sitting there.  
"What, are you waiting for an invitation?" asked Dean.

Enzo didn't answer. He just stayed looking down at his hands and chewing at his bottom lip and looking like a kicked puppy. Dean and Roman glanced at each other and then back at Enzo.

"Talk to him," Dean mouthed.

Roman looked at Enzo's sad face, not really knowing what to say.

"You… you wanna talk about it?"

Enzo just shook his head slightly.

"Well then do you-"

"I know you probably think I'm an idiot." He sighed.

"No we don't." said Roman.

"Well maybe a little." Shrugged Dean. Roman shot him a 'what the fuck' look.

"What?" Dean defended, "I don't mean about the whole Cass thing. Just, you know, in general."

Enzo mouth quirked up in what was almost a smile.

He sighed, finally looking up, "I was… I was a real dick to you guys. I'm sorry, I just really thought…" he trailed off, and Roman shook his head.

"You weren't being a dick."

"Well maybe a little," muttered Dean, "But it's okay," He said quickly before Roman could punch him, "We don't mind."

Roman just rolled his eyes in exasperation, "Don't listen to him he hasn't taken his meds."

He said, ignoring the sound of protest from Dean.

" _Cass_ is the dick."  
"Totally," Dean agreed, "A Major dick. Huge dick. Like, he's the dickiest dick there ever was. If there was a competition about who was the biggest dick-"

"We get it Dean," Roman cut in quickly. He looked back at Enzo, "The point is, he's an asshole. And you need new friends, and I'm getting pretty tired of dealing with Dean by myself, so welcome to the club."

Dean frowned, "What are you talking about 'dealing with me'? I'm tired of dealing with you."

Roman rolled his eyes, but was glad to see a small smile on Enzo's face.

"Now, can we go inside? It's cold out here."

Enzo finally got out of the car and the three made their way towards the front doors.

"For the record," Dean said to Enzo, "I don't have to take any meds. I'm not crazy, I swear."


	3. Broken Hearts

Dean woke up way too early. Again. He really needed to stop doing that, it was getting really annoying.

It was still dark outside so he turned his pillow over and lay back down, only to be hit with the sudden urge to go check on his dog. Dean didn't have a dog, but it was really early and his brain wasn't alert enough to remember that fact.

He padded downstairs with his eyes basically shut. He made his way towards the back door, but then he saw the kitchen and went there instead, forgetting all about the dog. He opened the fridge and blinked wearily at its contents for a minute or two. He was looking at the almost empty jar of mayonnaise when his ears perked up and he realised that there were people in his house. Lots of them. Shouting and screaming and talking and… oh wait, that was just the television.

Why was the television on?

Dean closed the fridge door and walked slowly towards the living room, grabbing a spatula and holding it out in front of him, just in case, When he looked around the corner, he dropped the weapon with a sigh of relief when he saw the wide eyed face illuminated by the TV light.

"Enzo." He sighed, "What the hell are you doing up, I was about to beat you half to death."

Enzo looked up at Dean with a start.

"Shit, sorry!" he fumbled with the remote and hit pause, "did I wake you?"

Dean yawned as he shook his head, "No, I was already up." He walked further into the living room, "What are you watching anyway?"

He went to stand behind the couch Enzo was on . When he saw what was on the TV, he froze mid-yawn.

"Dude," he said slowly. "What… what are you doing?"

"Uh," Enzo looked from the paused screen, to Dean, and back to the screen, "Just watching TV."

Dean blinked at the screen. It showed Enzo himself on an episode of RAW, backstage and on the floor, surrounded by medics and Kurt Angle and… and Big Cass.

Dean recognised it as the first attack.

"Just watching TV?"

"Is that okay?" Enzo asked, ignoring the real meaning behind Dean's question, "I mean, you said to make myself at home so… so I thought I'd just watch some TV."

Dean blinked again, "Uh.. yeah sure."

Enzo smiled and turned back to the TV and hit play.

Dean opened his mouth to say something. Anything. He knew he had to say something, but he had no words. He was pretty sure that Enzo wasn't watching this out of boredom, and he was also pretty sure that this… whatever it as that he was doing, wasn't good. So as he watched Enzo sitting on the edge of the sofa and staring intensely at the TV. Dean knew that he should probably be doing something to stop him.  
Instead, he turned on his heel and all but ran out of the living room and back up the stairs.

He'd just get Roman. Roman would probably know what to do.

:::

Roman was sleeping peacefully ad dreaming about the perfect burrito when a yell shocked him awake. He sat up with a start, banging his head on something hard in the process.

"Ow!" came a yell. The same yell that had woke him up.

Roman stared wide eyed at Dean on the edge of the bed, rubbing his head and mumbling, "every damn time."

"Dean!" hissed Roman, "What the hell?"

"You gotta wake up!" Dean hissed back.

"Why?" Roman glared.

"Because Enzo!" hissed Dean, as if that explained everything.

Roman blinked at him, "Yeah, I'm gonna need a little more than that."

Dean sighed as if he was talking to a child, "Enzo's watching TV."

"Well good for Enzo," Roman mumbled, laying back down.

"He's watching old tapes of him and Cass."

That sure caught Roman's attention. He sat up slowly, "What?"

Dean nodded, "Yeah."

"Why… why is he doing that?"

"Hell if I know. Why do you think I'm waking you?" he stood up and made towards the door.

"Right," Roman rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he swung his legs over the bed and stood up to follow Dean.

"Dude," Dean sighed, "Put some pants on."

Roman looked down and blushed, "Right."

:::

When the two of them got to the living room, Enzo was in the same position Dean had left him in, except this time, the TV showed him and Cass in the ring just before a match. Enzo didn't even seem to notice as they just stood there, eyes going from him to the TV. He was too busy… watching. Concentrating. As if he was looking for something.

"Enzo?" Roman said quietly.

Again, Enzo jumped as if the voice startled him, "Hey." He looked from him to Dean, "I _did_ wake you didn't I."

"No no," Roman shook his head, "No, not at all. We were already up," he lied, "What, uh… what are you up to?"

Enzo looked back at the TV. Cass was spelling out SAWFT as Enzo jumped and danced around him.

"I'm just watching." he said.

Roman nodded, "Mind if we join you?"

Enzo blinked, "Uh…"

"Great." Roman smiled. He sat down on Enzo's right, Dean going to the other side so they sat with Enzo in the middle.

They just sat there, and Enzo went back to the TV. The remote was fixed in his hand, and after every segment he'd rewind or fast forward and stop when he saw himself and Cass.

Enzo and Big Cass just before a PPV.

Enzo and Big Cass after Cass's 'attack'.

Enzo and Big Cass backstage after a loss.

Enzo and Big Cass backstage after a win.

Enzo and Big Cass backstage with Charley Caruso.

Enzo and Big Cass on an interview with Michael Cole.

Enzo and Big Cass after Enzo's second attack,

Enzo and Big Cass on NXT.

Enzo and Big Cass at Wrestlemania.

Enzo and Big Cass debut on RAW.

On and on he watched and Dean and Roman just watched with him. Dean was seriously starting to regret having each and every episode of every WWE show recorded.

Dean was the first to break the silence on the couch, "What are you looking for?" he asked.

Enzo shrugged, "I'm just looking."

"What for?" asked Roman.

For a long time, Enzo didn't say anything and the two thought he wouldn't answer. When he finally spoke, his voice was so soft they almost didn't hear it.

"I'm trying to figure out when he started to hate me."

Neither of them had anything to say to that.

Dean swallowed hard as he looked at the heartbroken man next to him. His own heart was breaking for the poor guy as he just kept watching.

"Enzo," said Roman softly, "Come on man, don't do this to yourself."

Enzo just shook his head, "I'm alright, really. I just… I wanna know, you know?"

He switched from each segment of him and Cass looking for a sign. Looking for any kind of change. Looking for anything that would tell him when his brother started to hate him.

He stiffened when he got to Payback 2016. Enzo and Big Cass verses The Vaudevillians. Enzo watched himself get tossed out of the ring and sprawled unconscious on the floor. He watched the refs checking on him and he watched Big Cass standing over him, trying to get him to wake up. The worry and fear was etched clearly on his face.

Enzo found himself thinking. Was that really worry? Was that look on Cass's face really worry for his friend, or was he annoyed that Enzo's injury had just cost them the match? Was he just pissed that Enzo had gotten himself hurt again? Was he mad that he'd now have to go to the hospital again?  
Enzo watched as he was wheeled to an ambulance, Cass walking behind the bed with his hands on his head. He watched himself getting loaded on and he watched Cass stay behind, and Enzo watched him cover his face to wide his fear from the cameras. Was he just really angry that he'd lost a chance at being a champion. Again? Because of Enzo?

"It wasn't your fault you got hurt Enzo." Enzo was surprised when Roman spoke. It was only then that he realised that he had been thinking out loud and they had heard all his worries.

"It's _somebody's_ fault." he answered after a while, "And I'm always the one getting hurt so…" he shrugged.

He fiddled with the remote again, and stopped on an episode of Smackdown while Enzo was still off and Cass was by himself.

The crowd was chanting, _We want Enzo!_

Was that it? The crowd chanting for Enzo when he wasn't around. Or chanting for Enzo when he _was_ around. They seldom chanted for Big Cass. Was that it? Did Cass resent the fact that Enzo's name was always the one being called? Enzo had never thought about it like that before. Maybe it really was his fault that-

"Come on, it's not your fault that you're better liked." Scoffed Dean, "If anything it's his fault for always having that stick up his ass."

Enzo just looked down, he'd done the talking thing again without knowing.

In the next segment they watched, Enzo was back. It was the rematch. Enzo and Big Cass verses the Vaudevillians. Again, he was tossed out, but this time, not bad enough to cause real damage. That hadn't seemed to make a difference to Cass. They all watched in complete silence when Big Cass lost it. They watched him destroy Simon and Aiden for laying their hands on Enzo. For trying to hurt Enzo again. Was he just faking that? Maybe he was faking it.

But then they saw the hug Enzo and Cass shared in the middle of the ring afterwards, the Vaudevillians sprawled outside the ring.

No. No one was that good an actor. No one was that good at lying. At that moment, Cass had been looking out for Enzo as only he could. He had genuinely cared, Enzo knew it.

What the hell had happened?

Why did Cass start to hate him?

Dean and Roman glanced at each other over Enzo's head, identical looks of pure sadness for the man between them. He was still talking under his breath. His voice breaking after every few words. He kept rewinding after the hug. He watched it on a loop over and over again, still muttering under his breath. From the light of the TV, they could see that his face wet with silent tears.

At this point, not even Roman knew what to do.

Slowly, so as not to startle him, Dean reached over and took the remote from Enzo's hand. He paused for the last time and switched the TV off. They sat in the slight darkness, Enzo still looking at the black screen and Dean and Roman looking at him.

Out of pure instinct, Roman shifted a little closer and drape his arm softly over Enzo's shoulder. Enzo tried to resist, but he found himself relaxing into the hold. Dean placed his hand on Enzo's leg and patted it softly at random intervals in what he hoped was a comforting manner.

Enzo was grateful for their comforts. But it didn't do much to stop the steady stream of tears that were now falling from his eyes. He was still staring at the TV. The screen was still blank, but in his mind, he could still see himself and Cass in that ring. Cass holding him close with the comfort only a big brother could give.

He rememberd what that hug felt like. It felt like 'I won't let anyone hurt you again'. It felt like 'No one's gonna touch you while I'm around'. It felt like 'I love you.' And now it was gone.

Cass had ripped it away like it was nothing.

"You guys should go back to sleep." Enzo whispered.

"No we're good," said Dean, "We'll just sit here."

Enzo shook his head, "No you should go. Thanks for staying here so long, I know you're tired. Really, I'm okay."

Dean started to protest again but Roman stopped him with a look. He understood that he just needed to be alone for a bit. Roman squeezed Enzo's shoulder softly as he stood up, "Try get some sleep okay?"

Enzo nodded, "Yeah."

Dean stood too. He was reluctant to leave, but he followed Roman nonetheless. Once they were far enough from the living room, Dean whispered.

"He was crying again."

"I know," sighed Roman.

"He's really beating himself up about this." He shook his head.

"I know," sighed Roman,

"I really hate that Cass guy," he snarled.

"I know." sighed Roman.

"He's real sad, man."

"I know." sighed Roman.

"Well, what do we do?"

Roman sighed and looked at Dean sadly, "I don't know."

:::

As hard as it was to sleep afterwards, exhaustion took over Dean and Roman, and when they woke up again the sun was fully up and they were a lot less tired. Dean was almost content, but then he started hearing sounds downstairs again. And smelling new smells. Yes, there wasn't definitely a strange smell coming from downstairs. Well, not strange exactly, more like... pleasant. Which still counted as strange in his house.

Dean rolled out of his bed, not bothernig to put on a shirt, and followed his nose down the stairs. That smell was... glorious. It smelled like food. _Good_ food. Good food cooking. Someone was cooking good food. Dean hadn't smelled something like that from his kitchen since the last time Roman's mother had come to visit.

Dean followed his nose all the way to the kitchen, where he saw Roman in the doorway looking just as surprised as Dean felt. He quickly went to stand next to Roman and his eyes widened at what he saw. Enzo was bustling around the kitchen, running from the stove to the counter to the fridge and back again. When he saw the two at the doorway, he grinned.

"Morning!" He said without stopping, "I made breakfast."

Dean and Roman looked at Enzo, and then at each other, nad then back at Enzo.

"You cook?" Dean couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice.

Enzo shrugged, "It's just breakfast. Thought I'd do something, just as a kind of thanks, you know?"

Dean looked back at Roman, "He cooks?"

"Yeah."said Enzo."I got bacon, eggs, some bread rolls, croissants, pancakes, waffles, the works. Oh, and there's some mufffins in the oven right now, should be ready in a minute."

Dean looked around the kitchen as Enzo pointed at all the things he listed. He shook his head at himself.

"He cooks."

"Come on, sit down." Enzo motioned them towards the kitchen table, where they sat down still looking a little stunned, "Give me a minute I'll set everything."

Dean and Roman sat down at the scarcely used table and just watched in awe as Enzo placed mountains of food in front of them.

"Roman, I hope you don't mind," he said as he worked, "I took your car to go get all these ingredients and stuff because, no offense Dean, but your kitchen was a ghost town."

"Dude," Dean whispered, "Can we keep him?"

Roman found himself nodding as he looked lovingly at the pancakes in the middle of the table.

When Enzo finally sat down, he grinned, "Well,what are ya waiting for? Dig in!"

And dig in they did. Roman had originally come down with the intention of maybe talking to Enzo about the night before, but he had been majorly distracted by all this's food, and like any hungry man, talking became the last thing on his mind.

"Dude," he said after swallowing a chunk of sausage, "This is amazing."

Enzo smirked, "I know right."

Roman rolled his eyes with a snort and Dean hummed his appreciation through a stuffed mouth. He wasn't really in the position to do any talking either. They polished off every last scrap, save for some leftover muffins, and swore to work it all off at the gym later.

"I haven't had a breakfast like that in forever," sighed Dean. He turned to Enzo, "You got any other tricks up your sleeve you wanna share?"

Enzo thought for a moment, "I can burp the National Anthem."

Roman made a face, "yeah, maybe later."

Dean laughed and leaned back in his chair, "Alright, what's on the agenda today?"

Before anyone could answer, Enzo's phone rang from his pocket. He took it out and smiled, and for a second, Dean and Roman looked a thing each other, fearing that it was Cass. But their worries were squashed when Enzo answered.

"Hey Kurt." He grinned, "You get my message?"

On the other end of the line, Kurt Angle was rubbing his head, " _Amore_. _Yes, I got your message."_

"Great!"

 _"No Enzo. Not great."_

"Why not?" Enzo frowned.

 _"You verses Big Cass at Great Balls of Fire? Is that the best idea?"_

Enzo sighed. Why did people keep saying that?

 _"Enzo I get that you're mad okay? I've been in this business long enough to know what betrayal feels like. You want to get him back, I get it, but-"_

"But you think he's gonna roast me alive in that ring, right?"

There was hesitation on the other end of the line and Enzo sighed again.

"Your concern is touching Kurt, really. But I want this match, okay? I _need_ this match. Please, make it happen."

Kurt Angle sighed heavily on his end of the line, " _Alright, fine. But I want it known that I'm one hundred percent against this."_

Enzo chuckled lightly and thanked the GM before hanging up. When he did, he saw Dean and Roman look at him suspiciously.

"I heard the words 'match', 'Cass' and 'Great Balls of Fire'," said Roman slowly.

Enzo stood up and started to clear the table, "Uh huh."

"Enzo,"

Enzo pointed at Roman's plate, "Are ya finished with that?"

Roman just stared him down, "Enzo."

"Yeah you look finished," he took Roman's plate.

"Enzo you can't be serious."

"'Bout what?"

"You can't fight Cass!" He exclaimed.

"Sure I can." said Enzo.

"No! No, that's a terrible idea. Dean, tell him what a terrible idea that is."

He crossed his arms, glaring at Enzo, and waited for Dean to agree with him. When there was nothing but silence on his end, Roman turned to him.

"Dean."

Dean sighed, "I dunno Rome. Maybe it's not such a terrible idea."

Enzo grinned in triumph, "See? Dean's on my side."

Dean scoffed, holding up his hand, "Slow down there kid, I never said it's a _good_ idea either. Just...maybe it's necessary."

"Necessary?" snorted Roman, "you know what else is necessary? Keeping your bones intact."

Enzo frowned, "You think he's gonna break my bones?"

"He threw you down a ramp Enzo!"

"Exactly!" Enzo threw his hands up, "He threw me down a fucking ramp."

Roman blinked, "I'm sorry you're gonna have to elaborate."

Dean nodded, "Yeah, I didn't get that either."

Enzo sighed and then sat back down heavily, "Look, I've been doing some thinking since last night. Well, this morning actually. And I'm tired of wondering what I did wrong. I do a lot of things wrong. All the time, I know that. But that don't mean it's okay to treat me like shit, right?"

Dean nodded sternly, "Absolutley."

"Right. And Cass has been treating me like shit. I mean he kicked me in the face, he knocked me down, he threw me down the fucking ramp, and not to mention all the shit he did when he was being 'anonymous'. It's about time I make this a fair fight, right? I need to fight back. I can't be the guy who gets beat up every week and doesn't do nothing about it."

He looked at the two men across him, willing them to see that he meant this. He meant to fight.

"He's right Ro," said Dean.

Enzo thanked him with his eyes, and then they were bother looking at Roman.

He sighed heavily, "You're gonna get hurt, Enzo."

Enzo shrugged, "Yeah. Probably, yeah. But I get hurt all the time, and I always get back up."

Roman still didn't look convinced, "Come on Roman." Said Enzo quietly, "I need to do this."

Enzo wondered for a moment why it almost sounded like he was asking for Roman's permission. He wondered again why he waited with baited breath for him to grant it.

Roman sat back in his chair, "Alright. Alright, fine."

Enzo grinned, "Great." He stood up again to start packing up, "Now, what do you want for lunch?"

:::

An hour later, the three of them were in Roman's truck off to buy more groceries for Dean's kitchen, which, as Enzo had said,was a ghost town. Enzo had insisted on cooking again, and Dean had been all for it. Roman protested for a few minutes before the idea of another hot meal won out.

While Roman drove, Dean checked his phone.

"The show's in Phoenix next week." He said, "That's a five hour drive from here, give or take. Unless you guys wanna fly."

"No." Roman said quickly, "Five hour drive sounds great."

Dean smirked, "Sorry Rome, I forgot about your fear of flying."

Roman gave him a sideways glare, knowing full well that Dean hadn't forgotten, he just liked to mock him.

From the backseat, Enzo raised his eyebrows, "you're scared of flying?"

"I ain't scared!" Roman insisted, "I just don't like it."

"Okay Roman." Smiled Dean.

"I'm not!"

"Okay."

"'Course."

Roman could feel them mocking him. He glared, "I'm not scared of flying!"

"Uh huh"

"Sure."

Roman grit his teeth in frustration, but he let it go. Which was the mature thing to do. Because he was the mature one. When he stopped the car, he slammed the door unnecessarily hard when he got out, which only fueled Dean and Enzo's mocking smirks. His mood improved, however, when he saw a Taco Bell in the distance. He went straight for it and sent the other two to go on without him.

"Well now you know three things about Roman," Dean laughed when they were alone.

"Yeah?"

"Hates losing, hates flying, loves Mexican food."

Enzo laughed, "That's good to know."

Once they were inside,Dean let Enzo take the lead on the shopping because he knew more about food. Actual food, not the hot pockets and microwaveable stuff Dean was used to. So he followed Enzo and the shopping cart, occaasionally adding his own essentials, such as string cheese and plastic forks.

Dean was passing the cereal aisle when he saw him. A seven foot figure looming in the distance. Enzo had passed the aisle without a second glance because apparently he didn't believe in cereal, insisting that it didn't count as real food. Had he just looked, he would've seen Big Cass standing there. Right there.

Dean couldn't help the snarl that appeared on his lips. What the hell was _he_ doing here?

"Dean!"

Dean turned with a start when he saw Enzo right next to him. By the sound of it, it wasn't the first time he called him. He must have even glaring at Cass for a lot longer than he thought.

"Yeah?"

"Dude, why are you looking at the cereal, I told you how I feel about those-" he stopped mid sentence, which told Dean that he had seen as well.

Now they were both staring into the cereal aisle at the seven footer, Enzo with lingering sadness, and Dean with barely contained rage.

Enzo was the first to turn away, taking the shopping cart with him and nudging Dean along with it. They went on shopping, Enzo concentrating a little too hard on the which bananas to take. He was content on pretending he hadn't seen Cass there at all, but then Dean stopped again. He turned to Enzo with an almost bright look on his face.

it was kind of unsettling. Especially when the look was directed at him.

"What?" He asked wearily.

"I have an idea."

Enzo blinked, "Okay."

"Its probably not a good one," Dean admitted.

"Well then you probably shouldn't do it."

Dean grinned, "Oh we will."

Enzo blanched, "We?"

Dean nodded manically, "Quick, get in the shopping cart."

Enzo paused a bit, and blinked when he saw that Dean was serious.

"Yeah, you were right this is a bad idea."

Dean was laughing now, "No, this is _perfect!_ Quick, get in the cart!"

"I ain't getting in the-"

"Come on Enzo!"

"I'm a grown ass man I can't just-"

"Enzo come on!"

"I will not-"

"Please!"

"No!"

"But I said please!"

Enzo scoffed, "you've gotta be kidding me."

"Enzo get in the cart!" he thundered.

"Alright fine!"

The triumphant grin on Dean's face bordered on manic as he held the cart steady while Enzo climbed in, muttering about being a grown ass man. As soon as he was fully inside, Dean steered the cart almost at a run back in hte direction had come in.

"Now what's your big idea?" huffed Enzo as he sat squashed in with some groceries, pretending not to be enjoying this.

Dean didn't answer. His grin just grew as he drove the cart, going faster and faster as he went.

"Now this might hurt a bit."

Enzo's eyes widened, "Hurt? What do ya mean 'hurt'."

"Actually this will definitely hurt. A lot, actually,"

"Dude-"

"But it will be worth it.

Enzo was staring to get scared, and a little confused, until Dean turned into the cereal aisle.

That's when it dawned on him. He turned his head to where Cass still stood with a shopping basket, and back to Dean, who was speeding up with every second.

"No."

"Yes!"

"Dean no!"

Dean's only reply was crazed laughter.

"Oh my god stop!" Enzo yelled. The cart was going faster, getting closer and closer.

"Let me off!" He shrieked, "Oh god let me off!"

Dean did not let him off, so Enzo just braced himself.

When Big Cass turned, it was too late. He barely had time to gasp in horror as he turned to see the shopping cart come flying towards him, Dean Ambrose behind it with a manic grin on his face, and Enzo Amore inside it, his eyes wide and frantic. A spilt second later, he was bowled into a shelf full of cornflakes and laid flat on the floor.

Dean had been right, that had hurt a lot. But when Enzo scrambled up and stared wide eyed at Big Cass unconscious amongst a pile of cereal boxes, he realised that Dean had been right about the other thing too. It was so worth it. Despite the sharp pain in his side, Enzo found himself laughing with the clearly crazy man beside him. They laughed long and hard, neither of them even realizing that a crowd had gathered with pictures being taken and calls being made. It's only when hey saw a bunch of the shop's employees steadily advancing that they decided to move.

"We should- we should get going." Dean managed to wheeze.

Enzo only nodded, not yet able to speak, and the two of them back away from the crowd, going faster and faster until they broke into a run. Enzo looked back to see the employees coming after them, and he cursed, laughing harder and trying to run faster.

They finally made it out the doors, just as Roman was coming in, his Taco Bell clutched in his hands.

"Turn around!" yelled Dean as they ran past him. Roman opened his mouth to ask why, and then he saw the many people in uniform chasing after them, yelling for them to stop.

"What the hell did you do?" Roman yelled, having no choice but to run after them.

He didn't receive an answer, and he just followed their manic laughter all the way to the car. The three leapt in and Roman started the car and managed to pull away just as the crowd reached them.

As he drove, he looked bewildered at the other two.

"What the hell did you do?!"

Dean managed to dwindle down his laughter enough to speak, "Well... well there was Cass and- and cornflakes and... and I think we kille him!" He fell into ridiculous peals of laughter again, and Roman shook his head, seeing that that was lol the explanation he was going to get.

"Can I not leave you two alone for 10 minutes without you doing something's illegal?" He asked, exasperates.

That only made them laugh even harder, while Roman muttered about finding another place to shop.

In the back, Enzo wiped the moisture out of his eyes. He hadn't laughed like this in what felt like ages. He had forgotten what it felt like.

Dean looked back at him, feeling proud, and unable to keep the triumphant grin off his face.

:::

 **Hello :)**

 **Leeh here. Thanks a lot for reading this, and a special thanks to those who are following and reviewing and favouriting! Every time I see something new I do my happy running man dance, which, if I can say so myself, is almost as good as Enzo's.**

 **Now, I don't wanna be that girl who begs people for follows and reviews and favourites, but if you do feel like following and/or reviewing and/or favouriting, that would be great.**

 **:)**

 **Okay buh bye.**


	4. Broken Holds

It was only on Thursday night that they finally decided to go to the gym. Roman had completely deviated from his set training schedule and he was starting to get cranky.

"I can't believe we spent a whole three days doing nothing but eating," he shook his head at himself as they drove to the gym they always used when they were in Vegas, "Three whole days! Look at me; I'm practically a big ball of fat. Tonight is going to be double sets on everything, just watch."

He had been going on like this since the afternoon and wouldn't shut up until Dean promised that they would go that night.

"Does that mean you're not gonna eat the lasagna at home?" Dean asked Roman with a smirk.

Roman gave him a look, "of course I'm gonna eat the lasagna at home."

"But I thought you said-"

"I know what I said!" snapped Roman, "That's why I'm doing double sets. To prepare myself."

Dean and Enzo just laughed.

Roman felt really bad for eating like a pig these past few days. Normally he had a strict diet of only eating rabbit food, and then maybe pigging out once in a while. Not for three days in a row. Especially not so close to a pay-per view. Honestly he blamed Enzo. He didn't know what the man put in his food but it was damn near irresistible. Roman was going to have to ask him to stop with all this cooking because it was really messing with him.

But not yet. At the moment there was a lasagna waiting in the oven and Roman planned to eat the hell out of that lasagna. So definitely not yet.

When they finally got to the gym, it was empty, just the way they liked it. If they had come during the day, they would have spent more time signing autographs than working out, so night time was far more ideal.

Once they got to working, they didn't stop. Roman put on his earbuds and was basically dead to the rest of the world. Dean was blasting his own work out music and trying to dance along, and failing miserably because it was hard to dance and lift weights at the same time. Enzo skipped from one machine to the other without really finishing sets, getting bored staying at one place for two long. By the time the two hours were up, all three men were sweating through their clothes. Roman was only planning on taking a small break before starting up again, so Dean decided it was time to do one of his favourite things. Testing Roman's strength.

"Testing his strength?" Enzo frownedwhen Dean told him, "What do you mean?"

"Dude," said Dean, "Roman's strong."

"Well yeah," shrugged Enzo. Everyone knew that Roman was strong.

"No like, really strong." Dean insisted, convinced that Enzo wasn't getting it. He turned to Roman, motioning for him to take off his earbuds.

"Are you done?"

Roman scoffed, "'course not."

"You done your arms?"

Roman nodded taking another gulp from his water bottle.

Dean tilted his head, "Are you sure?"

Roman blinked, "I... Uh... yeah."

Dean frowned, squeezing around Roman's bisep. He shrugged, "Alright then."

Roman looked after him with wide eyes. He looked down at his bisep, flexing and unflexing it worriedly.

"You're right, I should do more arms." He muttered going over to the weights.

"You did those already," said Dean.

"So... push-ups?"

Dean shrugged "Sure."

"Alright, come on then."

Enzo watched with a frown as Dean tricked Roman into doing push-ups. Why was he tricking Roman into doing push-ups. And why was Roman asking for help doing the push-ups? Dean had a hidden smirk as he followed Roman to an empty spot on the floor. Roman got down into push-up position and then... Dean sat on his back.

What...

"You good?" asked Roman.

"Yeah," said Dean, "go."

And so Roman started doing the push-ups. With Dean on his back. And not just regular push-ups either. Fast push-ups. With a 225 pound man on his back.

Enzo gaped as Roman passed twenty, and then fifty and then he just kept right on going.

Dean was just looking at Enzo with a smirk on his face, as if showing off.

Damn, Dean was right. He _was_ really strong.

"How are you doing that?" he gasped.

"He's Superman, that's how." Dean grinned, still sitting cross legged on his back.

Dean stopped Roman after a while. Enzo had lost count, but it was a lot of push-ups.

"Bench now." Said Roman gesturing for Dean to follow. Roman lay back on the bench empty handed, while Dean picked up heavy bench press weights. Instead on giving them to Roman, he held them to his chest and then went to stand beside Roman, his back facing him, and then Roman lifted him up, holding him with on hand high on Dean's back and one just under his butt. And then he just started using Dean as a weight as if it was nothing.

Enzo could only watch in fascination. Because damn. Now, Enzo was strong too, but the regular kind of strong. _Human_ strong. Not whatever Roman Reigns was. With Dean and the weights combined, he must've had over five hundred pounds over his head and he was barely breaking a sweat. Dean was clearly having the time of his life up there, if the grin on his face was anything to go by. He looked at Enzo.

"You want a go?"

Enzo grinned with wide eyes, "Well yeah!"

Dean called for Roman to stop so that he and Enzo could swap places. Still, Enzo was shocked by how easily Roman lifted him up. Even with the heavy weights involved. And yeah, he was significantly lighter than Dean, but still.

Enzo grinned as Dean spotted and he just kept moving up and down. He was having fun up there, he really was.

...Until he remembered that the last time someone held him above their heads like this, they had launched him hard to the ground.

He felt the smile leave his face.

No wonder he was so comfortable up here, he was so used to this position. Cass always held him up like this during matches. Hell, it was their best move, Cass throwing him at people. It had also been a lot of fun. Being thrown was fun, no question. Except the last time, of course. The last time had been anything but fun.

When Cass had first thought of the idea of 'Air Enzo', Enzo had been all for it. He hadn't even thought twice about it because he knew that Cass wouldn't drop him. The trust he had for the guy was ridiculous, and for four years he had been right. Cass had never dropped him.

Except the last time.

Enzo remembered it painfully well. He remembered Cass heaving him up. He remembered looking down at his face and seeing all the hate there. All the hate for _Enzo_. He saw Cass look at him with a look Enzo never thought would ever be directed at him in a million years. He saw Cass hate him just before he flung him as hard as he could to the hard ground. Up here was where Enzo always felt safest. Even though he knew that he was being used as a weapon, he knew that Cass was supporting him up there. He knew that even though he was being thrown, it was okay because it was Cass doing the throwing, and he trusted Cass more than anyone.

Until the last time, when Cass heaved him up and looked at him with that look. There was no support there, no safety. Just hate. And then Cass-

"Enzo!"

Enzo blinked and suddenly it wasn't Cass's face in front of him, it was Dean's. And there was no hate there, just... worry.

"Ro, put him down," said Dean as he took the weights away from Enzo. Enzo felt himself be gently lowered and his feet hit the ground aoftly.

When he turned he saw that both Dean and Roman were looking at him with that look of worry again.

"Dude, you okay?" asked Dean.

"Yeah." said Enzo quickly, "I'm fine."

They didn't believe him.

"Enzo, you were practically hyperventilating," frowned Roman.

"What? No I wasn't."

 _I wasn't, right?_

Dean and Roman shared a look.

"I'm good, really." Enzo insisted, not convincing anyone. He swallowed hard and turned to get his water bottle. He drank the water in big gulps as he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to get the thought of being thrown across the room out of his head.

"Enzo."

He turned around to see them looking at him again. With that look.

"I'm fine."

Roman and Dean only had to share one look to realize.

"Shit." Dean cursed, "Shit man, we didn't think this through."

"What?" Enzo's eyebrows went up, "No, no it's nothing."

Roman shook his head, looking way too guilty, "We're sorry man, we should've realised."

"I _really_ didn't think that through." Dean said again.

Enzo just shook his head, "No, I- I wanted to go up you didn't-"

"Yeah but I suggested it," sighed Dean.

"No I wanted to." Enzo insisted, "It was a lot of fun, really, I just... I think I just... panicked a little ."

 _I thought you might throw me._

The last part was left unsaid, but it was loud as hell in the quiet room.

"I think we should call it a night," said Roman quietly, picking up his shirt. Dean nodded his agreement. Enzo knew that they were stopping because of him and he felt like crap for it, but he also knew that his protests would be ignored.

The car ride was quiet. The two in the front were beating themselves up with the guilt of making Enzo remember that asshole. The one in the back was trying to get the image of that hate filled face out of his head.

They were pulling up to the driveway when Roman spoke.

"You know we won't drop you like that, Enzo." he said quietly, "you know that, right?"

In the back, Enzo gulped. "Yeah. Yeah, I know."

Roman and Dean glanced at each other. He didn't sound all that convinced. And it kinda broke their hearts.

:::

The lasagna was waiting, sitting beautifully in the oven. They had taken quick showers at the gym so they went straight to the kitchen. The atmosphere was quite chilly after the incident at the gym, but the delicious meal fixed that right up. Roman didn't feel so guilty eating it now that he had been to the gym, but he still promised himself he'd go a couple more times before they left Nevada. After all, Great Balls of Fire was only two weeks away.

Speaking of Great Balls of Fire, that reminded him. He turned to Enzo.

"We should work out your strategy," he said as he polished off the last of his meal.

Enzo looked up, still chewing, "strategy?"

"For your match," said Roman, "Do you have a plan?"

"Uh," Enzo swallowed. "Sure. Yeah, I got a plan."

"Great," Roman nodded, "Lets hear it."

Enzo cleared his threat, "Well... I... uh... I was gonna go in there. And, well, hope for the best."

Roman blinked at him.

Enzo blinked back.

"Sounds good," nodded Dean, taking a drink from his beer.

Roman looked from Enzo to Dean for a very long time as he realised that they weren't kidding.

"That... that's it?"

Enzo shrugged, "I will also try my hardest not to lose."

Roman's eyes widened, "Dude."

"What?"

"That's the worst plan I've ever heard!"

"Well plans don't always work you know."

"That's what I've been tryna tell him," muttered Dean.

Roman gaped, "What the hell is wrong with you people?"

"Roman honey," smirked Dean, "you're the only one here who always has to have a plan for everything. Right now, _you're_ the weird one."

Enzo and Dean laughed at the look on Roman's face and they shared a high five.

:::

As promised, Roman forced them all to the gym a few times before they left for Phoenix. On Sunday afternoon, they packed into Roman's car and hit the road.

Enzo offered to drive for once, and looked far too excited to get behind the wheel. Before they even hit the open road, he had bumped into three mailboxes and damn near hit a dog, yelling out "Shit sorry!" every few seconds.

Clutching onto his seat, Roman yelled for him to stop before telling him very firmly to get out and never sit in the drivers seat of his car ever again.

Enzo went to the back seat with a hung head.

"He's worse than Dean," muttered Roman to himself as he started the car again. Dean grinned widely, happy that for once he wasn't the one in trouble. Honestly he had to agree. He wasn't the best driver, but he wasn't 'hit the mailbox' bad.

"Do you even have a drivers lisense?" asked Dean, anxious for the answer. He wasn't disappointed.

"Kinda," shrugged Enzo.

Dean laughed and Roman frowned, looking at him through the rear view mirror, "Kinda?"

"The court suspended it a while back."

This time he had no choice but whip around, "The _court_?"

Enzo waved his hand nonchalantly, "It was just a minor misunderstanding. I'm honestly a real good driver. But only on the highway where there ain't nothing to crash into."

"Yeah, nothing except other cars!" exclaimed Roman.

"I don't crash into other cars!" Enzo said, genuinely offended.

"I'll believe that once you get your lisense back," muttered Roman.

At first, the car was filled with loud music. But eventually they had to just turn off the radio because no one could agree on what to listen to. Enzo wanted his Hip Hop on, but Dean scoffed, claiming that that was nothing but songs about sex and drugs. Enzo, thoroughly offended, decided that it was his obligation to teach these obviously uncultured people about the glory that was Tupac.

After about a minute of that, Dean decided that he was done listening, so he put on his own rock music, which Enzo scoffed at because that music was obviously nothing but dudes in makeup screaming into microphones. Dean had turned around slowly, fixing Enzo with his deadliest death stare. Roman had broken up the impending fight by telling them that both their music sucked, and obviously good old Rythm and Blues was the way to go. Enzo and Dean looked at him with identical looks of disdain because that music was for sissys.

It was finally decided that they would let the radio decide before they ripped each other's throats out. Besides, Dean and Roman realised that Enzo talked enough to fill any silence. He talked about literally anything and everything, and most of the time he seemed to be talking to himself anyway, he honestly didn't expect any replies. In fact, he seemed surprised when either Dean or Roman answered his ramblings, seemingly not used to actually being listened to.

Roman wondered if that meant that Cass rarely listened to him when the two were on the road together. Which led to wondering if Cass had really been as good a friend as Enzo thought he was.

About halfway through their journey, they stopped at a Gas Station to stretch their legs and fill up snacks. With only about an hour left to go and the sun setting, Enzo started drifting off, having tired himself out with all his talking. He was jerked back to full consciousness by a voice in the front seat.

"Tunnel!"

Enzo sat up abruptly at Dean's yell. Roman didn't seem phased at all, probably already used to this.

"Roman it's a tunnel!"

"I know, I know," sighed Roman as he pulled over.

Enzo blinked away the sleep and saw a tunnel about half a mile away. Once the car stopped, Dean flung the door open, and jumped out. He looked far too excited.

Enzo frowned as he turned in his seat and looked out the back window to see Dean get into the back of the truck and stand with his hands holding onto the roof of the car.

He turned to Roman, the question evident on his face.

Roman grinned as he started driving again.

"Dean really likes tunnels." He explained, "He thinks it's a crime to go through a tunnel while confined in a car."

Enzo turned back to look at Dean as they approached the tunnel and saw by the look on his face that he must _really_ like tunnels.

"So he's just gonna stand there?" asked Enzo.

Roman shrugged, "Sometimes he just stands, sometimes he sings, sometimes he just screams. Whatever makes him happy."

When they entered the tunnel, it was evident that today was a screaming day.

Roman rolled down all the windows so they could hear Dean's elated yells. Enzo watched him from out the window, seeing the absolute joy on his face. He looked so happy it was making Enzo happy. He was obviously having the same effect on Roman if the grin on his face anything to go by.

"You wanna join him?" Roman asked Enzo when he saw him watching Dean.

Enzo turned to Roman with a grin, "yeah I wanna!"

Roman was about to slow down, but Enzo had other plans. He started to climb out the window before he could hear Roman's yells for him to wait for the fucking car to stop. At the back, Dean held out his hand and pulled the smaller man up, moving over to make room.

Enzo faced the road, standing at the back with Dean. The wind was sharp and cool, stinging his eyes and slapping his cheeks and blowing his hair back. His heart was beating a mile a minute, and he didn't remember ever smiling this much as he scremeed and whooped with Dean. Without really thinking about it, he let go of the car and spread his arms wide, letting the wind whip under them. Dean laughed and followed suit.

The two stood there, arms up and laughing, their faces painted with joy and and their shouts bouncing off the walls of the tunnel. It was one of those moments you wished would go on forever, and damn, Enzo wished it could.

:::

Once they arrived in Phoenix, Enzo assumed that they would be staying in a hotel since none of them had places in Arizona, but it turned out that Jimmy, Roman's cousin, did, so that's how Enzo found himself in the driveway of a rather large house in suburban Phoenix.

There was already a car in the driveway, which meant that the Usos were already in there.

Enzo couldn't help but be a little worried as the three of them unloaded the car.

"You sure they won't mind me staying?" he asked.

"'Course they won't," assured Roman.

"Are ya sure? Cause I could stay in a hotel, honestly I don't-"

"Would you shut up and help with the bags?" Dean cut in, "It's just Jimmy and Jey, they won't mind."

His voice left no more room to protest, so Enzo shut up and helped with the bags.

Roman let himself in with a key, the other two following behind him. They had barely taken a step in when a figure leapt in front of them, a gun shoved right in Roman's face.

Upon seeing the weapon, Roman let out a high shriek that he would deny until the day he died. Enzo dropped all the bags in his arms and his hands shot upstictivley.

Behind him, Dean just laughed.

 _Who the fuck laughed at a fucking gun this guy was fucking_ _insane_.

A moment later, Roman growled, a hand clutching his chest, "Goddamn it Jimmy! What the fuck!"

Once the second of shock was over, Enzo looked behind the fairly large gun and saw Jimmy Uso. He put the gun down with a grin.

"Oh, it's just you." He turned around and yelled "Jey! It's just Roman, you can put away the rifle!"

"Tell Roman to fucking knock next time!" came a yell. Enzo looked up to see Jey Uso appear at the top of the staircase. Holding a rifle.

Jimmy looked back at the three by the door, "You should knock next time instead of sneaking in like criminals."

"I have a key!" Roman growled, "You _gave_ me a fucking key!"

"That don't mean you can just come into a man's house unannounced. Your mama taught you better, Reigns."

He clicked the gun to safety and raised his eyebrows at them, "Well are y'all gonna come in or stand by the door all night?"

"Not that I mind at all," said Dean, "but you mind telling us why you're on the lookout with guns?"

Jimmy answered as he went over to help with their bags, "Because Naomi said she wants a safe home, and I sure as hell ain't paying for that ridiculously expensive home security thing she wants. So Jey brought over all his guns and, well," He raised the gun in his hand, "I'm my own security."

Enzo blinked. So... they were crazy then. Enzo found the thought strangely comforting.

:::

Roman had been right. The Usos didn't at all seem mind Enzo being there. Jimmy told him that Naomi wouldn't have minded either, and anyway, she was spending the night with Becky. After some backslapping greetings, Jimmy just pointed him to a spare room and told him to dump his stuff in there and then come down for drinks. Roman had protested getting drunk when RAW was literally the next day, but peer pressure got the best of him and he too was soon cracking open the beers.

They were sitting out back buy the pool talking about things they'd all probably forget the next day when suddenly, Jey turned to Enzo as if he had just realised something.

"Amore," he said sitting up, "you're like the king of the mic or whatever, right?"

Enzo shrugged, "I prefer Smacktalker Skywalker, but I'll accept King."

"Well we got a rap battle with the New Day on the show on Tuesday." Continued Jey.

Jimmy sat up, seeing where his brother was going with this, "yeah! You gotta help us out with some lines, man."

Enzo raised his eyebrows, "rap battle?"

"Yeah." Said Jimmy, "Shane let them set it up cause he thinks it'll be fun. But this ain't about fun this is a fucking war."

"And we gotta be fucking brutal man. We can't let those unicorns win. Or their stupid entourage."

"Entourage?" asked Roman.

Jey nodded, "we get to have entourages." He gasped, "you guys should be in our entourage!"

Dean sighed, "You know what, I would, but I hear entourages are supposed to be supportive, and I can't promise that I won't laugh at you guys if they say something good."

The Usos glared at Dean and simultaneously flipped him off.

Jey turned back to Enzo, "So you in?"

"You want my help?" Enzo asked with a smile.

"Well obviously." Shrugged Jimmy. "And in exchange we'll help with your promo for tomorrow."

The smile fell off Enzo's face.

"My what?"

Jimmy raised an eyebrow, "For Big Cass. You are gonna say something right?"

Enzo frowned, "I... I dunno."

"You gotta say _something_!" Said Jey.

Enzo thought for a while, and realised that yes, he did have to say something. But... what? He'd never thought about cutting a promo on Cass. He never thought he'd have to.

Jey thumped him on the back, "Don't worry little guy, we're gonna help you out. I got plenty insults for that guy. I never liked Cass in the first place, honestly."

"Yeah," agreed Jimmy, "He's always been a bit of an asshole." he snorted, "He's Cass the asshole." He laughed again, "Cass the Casshole! Get it? _Cass_ hole." Jimmy laughed out loud at his own joke, thumping his thigh, "You should totally use that tomorrow!"

Enzo found himself laughing along, "I ain't gonna use that."

Jimmy grinned, "Yeah you will."

The three of them spent the night trading insults about their respective opponents, Dean and Roman commenting where they saw necessary. By the middle of the night,they were all somewhere between buzzed and full on drunk. That's when Enzo spotted the hot tub. He gravitated towards it like a magnet and climbed in, sighing happily.

"You know you're supposed to have water in there, right?" snorted Jey.

Enzo was enjoying himself too much to pay attention to their laughs. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back, and he was asleep within the minute.

:::

The next day was RAW day. Roman had dragged Dean and Enzo to the gym early in the morning, where they stayed until it was time to go to the arena.

Unlike the week before, Enzo wasn't walking the hallways alone, and he liked it a lot better this way. There were a few strange looks from the other Superstars at seeing Enzo Amore hanging with Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, but no one really said anything about it.

Enzo saw Cass in the cafeteria. He was wearing his regular vest. But it was plain black, and not decorated with 'Certified G' as it used to be. Enzo felt a pang in his chest at that. He didn't even realize that he had been watching Cass for a while until the big man turned and met his stare. Cass's eyes just narrowed, and he turned and left the room angrily.

"You think he's still mad about the shopping cart thing?" Dean wondered aloud. Enzo couldn't help but smirk at the memory.

Roman frowned, "Shopping cart thing?"

Enzo snorted, remembering that Roman still didn't know what had happened at the shopping center in Vegas.

"What shopping cart thing?"

"Nothing," they said together, before sharing a look that told Roman that it was definitely not nothing. He just shook his head with a sigh, deciding that he probably didn't want to know.

:::

Monday Night RAW ran smoothly for the guys. Enzo especially liked the fact that he hadn't ended up in a hospital bed. This time it had been him doing the attacking, and damn, had it felt good. Dean was kinda pissed at not getting a title shot that night, but was excited that he'd get his shot at Great Balls of Fire, and Roman was satisfied that he'd finally managed to get one up on Braun Strowman. They drove back to Jimmy's in a better mood than usual.

Tuesday Night SmackDown Live didn't go so great for the Usos. Dean, Roman and Enzo watched from the house, and true to his word, Dean laughed a lot at their expense. When Jimmy and Jey came home, Dean was the first to offer them fake sympathy for their loss. He just got another double flip off.

"By the way Enzo," said Jimmy when they were outside by the pool again, "we forgive you."

Enzo choked a little on his beer, "Forgive me? What'd I do?"

"Well it's your fault we lost obviously." Said Jey.

Enzo snorted. "No way! You didn't even use half the stuff I gave you, you got yourselves disqualified!"

Jimmy and Jey glanced at each other, realizing that he was right.

"Yeah, but we're still gonna blame you."

The night went on much like Sunday did. Lots of beers and lots of talking. Roman and Jimmy were inside trying to find where Naomi hid the chips, leaving Enzo with Dean and Jey. A little after his sixth beer, Jey decided it was too hot for clothes and took his shirt off. As he did, he looked down at himself with a frown.

"Hey guys, do you think I'm fat?" He asked suddenly.

Enzo was a little taken aback, and Dean snorted, "I'm not gonna answer that question."

Jey looked at him with wide eyes, "So that's a yes?"

Dean blinked, "uh..."

Jey gasped, "You think I'm fat?"

Dean gulped and then turned towards the house, "Coming!" He yelled, pretending to have heard someone yell his name. He got up, managing to escape, and left Enzo to deal with an intense stare from the younger Uso.

"Do you think I'm fat Enzo?"

Enzo immediately shook his head, "I think you look great." He said as convincingly as he could.

Jey smiled drunkenly at him, "aw, that's sweet Amore. But sorry man, I'm married."

Enzo's jaw dropped, "Wh.. what? No no no, I wasn't-"

Jey patted his head affectionately, "But I know you'll make someone else very happy one day."

"Wait wait, hold up." Enzo tried to clear up the obvious confusion. Jey didn't give him a chance,

"Hey Jimmy!" he yelled into the house, "Enzo's got a crush on me!"

"No he doesn't!" Enzo yelled into the house. He looked back at Jey, "No I don't!"

Jeys face immediately fell, "why not?"he asked accusingly, "I ain't good enough for you?"

Enao just gaped at Jey, having no idea what to say.

"It's cause I'm fat ain't it." sniffed Jey, "I fucking knew it."

Enzo was left having to console the drunk man and assure him that he wasn't fat in the least for quite some time before the others came back. By the looks on their faces, they weren't the least sorry for leaving him. His glares did nothing but make them laugh.

As the night went on, talk went to the upcoming RAW Pay-per view. Obviously, Roman was confident as ever, not even considering losing as a possibility. Dean was hopped up at the thought of winning his Intercontinetal Championship back, and was pretty confident even though the odds were mostly against him.

The only person who didn't think they were going to win was Enzo.

"I mean, let's be real here," he shrugged, "I don't stand a chance."

"Sure you do," said Roman in what he hoped was a convincing voice.

Enzo looked at him and scoffed.

"Come on, you can't go in there thinking you're gonna lose," said Dean.

"Yeah," agreed Jimmy, "I mean sure your chances don't look that great, but come on now," he patted Enzo on the head like Jey had, "You're a tough little squirrel, Amore."

Emzo frowned a little, "I'm not sure if that's a compliment."

Jimmy grinned, "it's definitely a compliment."

Enzo grinned, "Well thanks!"

A few minutes later, Enzo was asleep on the table. Jimmy looked at him and then turned to Dean and Roman.

"He's gonna lose ain't he."

"Yep," sighed Dean, "But we ain't telling him that."

:::

 **Hello :) :)**

 **Me again.**

 **Just another quick thanks for the support I'm getting for this story, honestly I'm so happy!**

 **I also wanna apologize for taking so long with updates. I am literally making this up as I go along and I have work too and I don't wanna post half-hearted chapters so bear (bare?) with me please.**

 **And also, I wanna tell y'all that I'm gonna stop copying actual RAW and SmackDown shows after Great Balls of Fire for those of you who were wondering.**

 **Thanks again for your reviews and follows and favourites, they're greatly appreciated. :D**

 **Okay buh bye!**


	5. Broken Bones

_7/9/17_

"Well that sucked."

The three words that Dean mumbled pretty much summed up the night for Dean, Roman and Enzo. It was just after Great Balls of Fire and they were all lying down on different beds in a shared hospital room. Dean lay on the right and had his knee wrapped up. On the left, Roman lay with his ribs wrapped in ice and between them, Enzo... well Enzo was trying hard not to breathe because it hurt too much. There wasn't enough ice in the world to help him at this point.

By the way they all lay beaten and banged up in the hospital room, anyone could tell that it had been a bad night. Roman's luck had been way off, the numbers game had gotten the better of Dean, and Enzo just plain got beat up.

Dean let out a long sigh, "I can't believe we all lost."

"I didn't lose." said Roman immidietley.

The other two said nothing, Dean only rolled his eyes.

"I didn't," insisted Roman, seeing that the other two weren't quite believing him, "the ref made a bad call and I don't think it should count."

"Bad call?" Enzo frowned, genuinely confused, "how?"

Roman sat up to face the other two, wincing at the burn in his chest, "It was an ambulance match," he explained, "The rules clearly state that the winner is the person who throws his opponent into the ambulance and shuts the doors behind him. Strowman did _not_ throw me into that ambulance so technically, I didn't lose."

Dean and Enzo glanced at each other and tried very hard not to show that they were laughing on the inside. They didn't do a very good job because Roman glared at them and lay back down, muttering, "I didn't lose."

He knew that he was not going to live this down anytime soon.

He had had that match in the bag. All that was left was one spear to send Strowman into the ambulance, and then that coward had moved away, causing Roman to dive into the vehicle instead.

He really hated that motherfucking Strowman. That, combined with Roman's hurt pride and his incredibly short temper, is probably what caused him to do what he did afterwards. He squeezed his eyes shut at the memory.

"I'm gonna be fired aren't I." he sighed.

"Course not," said Enzo.

"Probably," said Dean at the same time.

Roman glared and Dean shrugged apologetically, "Dude. You killed Braun Strowman, you'll be lucky if you're not arrested."

"I didn't _kill_ him." Mumbled Roman.

"You threw him in the ambulance and then backed it full speed into a Semi-trailer truck." Said Enzo with a grin, "You might as well have."

Enzo didn't know why he was smiling. There was absolutley nothing funny about homocide, but damn, that had been beautiful to watch.

Roman too couldn't help but let his lip curl into an almost smile. He knew for a fact that Strowman was in this very hospital with his many injuries being attended to, and he knew that he should probably be feeling bad about that, but finally ridding the mammoth from his plate had been more than satisfying. Albeit illegal.

"Yeah, I'm probably fired," he muttered.

Enzo let out a laugh and then forced himself to stop.

"Ow," he winced at the pain in his chest.

The others looked at him worriedly.

"How you feeling, Amore?" asked Roman.

Enzo thought for a while before he answered, "I feel great." he said honestly.

His answer surprised him almost as much as it surprised Dean and Roman. Before his match he had been ready to feel awful at the concept of Cass beating him up. But he guessed Cass beating him up kinda just cemented the end. Enzo hated to admit it, but there was a part of him, a tiny, tiny part, that had still had hope. Hope for him and Cass. Tonight had killed that hope dead. It was almost like... closure. It was really well and truly over now. After that match, every part of Enzo was sure that Cass really did hate for real. There was no point of hoping anymore. No point of waiting. It was done.

The finality of it was like a huge weight off Enzo's shoulders and the lightness... well, it felt great.

Dean and Roman glanced at each other, and then down at the smiling man between them.

"You feel great?" asked Roman.

"Mh hmm." hummed Enzo.

Dean frowned, "Are you sure? Because you look like an overcooked pancake."

Enzo surprised himself again by laughing, holding his chest as he did so, "well, on the inside I feel great. My body feels like it's been... I dunno, backed into a Semi or something."

Dean laughed while Roman glared, "That ain't funny, I might be fired!"

"Calm down, Roman," chuckled Dean as he sat up, "nobody's gonna fire you. Hell the whole locker room is probably glad that someone finally got rid of the Strowman problem."

Roman tried hard to believe him, "How do you think Kurt's gonna react?"

"Maybe he'll be cool." shrugged Dean, "Maybe a little mad. But not 'you're fired' mad. Just a little ticked, you know? Or like..." Dean suddenly stopped when he saw outside the room window, "oh look, there's Kurt now."

Roman's eyes widened, "What?"

"Oh," Dean winced, "Yeah, he looks mad. Really mad. And... oh look he's coming this way."

Dean looked at Roman apologetically, "I may have been wrong Ro."

Dean lay back down just as there was a knock on the door.

"Good luck," he whispered before turning his head and pretending to be asleep. Enzo took the hint and did the same.

Roman gaped at them and snarled, "motherfuckers."

The knock came again, louder and angrier.

Roman sighed and sat up, "come in," he called out.

The door was all but thrown off its hinges as Kurt stormed in. Dean was right, he looked really, really mad.

"Reigns," he said through gritted teeth, "I cannot believe the crap you pulled tonight!"

Kurt slammed the door behind him, and for a long time, he yelled. And yelled. And yelled some more. Dean had been wrong, he was more than just a little ticked. Roman tried his hardest to twist him face into what he hoped was an apologetic expression. He wasn't really sure if he was succeeding, but Kurt was too busy chewing his ass to notice. Had he been paying more attention, he would've noticed that Dean's eyes were screwed tighly shut as he tried not to laugh out loud, and Enzo's lips were pulled into his mouth in an attempt to keep silent.

Roman really hated these guys right now.

"Well?" Kurt crossed his arms, finally finished with his rant, "what do you have to say for yourself?"

Roman blinked. What _did_ he have to say for himself? Honestly he didn't really know.

"Well are you going to apologise?" Kurt asked again.

Roman nodded, "Right," he cleared his throat, "Uh, I'm sorry I crashed the ambulance into the semi trailer truck. I'm sure that's probably gonna cost a lot of money."

The general manager was trying very hard not to pop a vein, "Not to me, to Strowman!"

"Oh," Roman thought about it for a moment, "Then no. No I won't."

In the next bed, Enzo let out a snort, but managed to cover it up with a fake snore.

Kurt just stared at Roman, no longer angry, just weary.

"You're going to be the death of me Reigns."

Roman shrugged, "sorry," he said genuinely.

Kurt shook his head, rubbing at his temples with a sigh, "I'm gonna have to ban you from the arena tomorrow night. And strip you of your number one contender ship."

Roman opened his mouth to protest, but Kurt stopped him, "You should consider yourself lucky, Braun wanted you suspended at best. I'm just giving you a night off and an extra fight before you can go for the championship again."

As much as he hated to admit it, Roman knew that that was a good deal.

When Kurt left, Roman lay back down, "You can get up now," he sighed.

Dean opened his eyes immediately, "Well, that went well."

"I think he secretly likes you." said Enzo, "If you look past all the screaming he did just now."

Roman snorted despite himself, and then the three battered up superstars just lay there.

"We should probably get going." sighed Roman.

"Probably yeah," yawned Enzo.

"I don't really feel like moving though." groaned Dean.

"How long do you think we can stay here before they kick us out?" wondered Enzo.

"Guess we'll have to see." said Roman.

And so they did. They lay on their beds in relative silence for a good forty minutes before a nurse came in and reminded them that they'd been cleared to leave over two hours ago. Which was his polite way of telling them to beat it.

It took another fifteen minutes for them to actually leave the room. Dean walked with an exaggerated limp until Roman finally let him get in a wheelchair. For Enzo, every step hurt like hell,but he tried to keep his face passive because he was scared that they might offer to carry him or something.

When they got to the hotel, Enzo was so tired he was nearly dead on his feet. There were two beds, and Roman gave one to Enzo, insisting that he was far too hurt to even consider the couch. Enzo was too tired to argue this time, and he was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

For the first time in a three weeks, Enzo slept through the night. Not because the nightmares were stopping, but because his body wasn't really giving him a choice. When he woke up, Dean and Roman were already up and packing.

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty," said Dean, "Time to hit the road."

Enzo groaned, "Whyy?" he whimpered, sounding a lot like a little kid who didn't want to go to school.

"The show's in Houston. We got a long drive kid."

Enzo didn't think it was possible, but his body felt a lot worse than it had the night before.

"Oh my god," he moaned into the pillow, "I can't move. I think I'm dead."

Roman sat on the edge of the bed, "What you need is a nice ice bath. Nothing like a good ice bath to soothe hurting muscles."

Enzo shuddered at the thought, "Uh, no thanks."

"Ain't nobody asking you." snorted Roman, "You'll get yourself an ice bath as soon as we get to Houston. But we won't get there if you stay in bed all day." He patted Enzo's shoulder.

It took all of Enzo's willpower to get out of the comfortable bed, but he managed. Eventually. But as soon as they were in the car, he lay down in the backseat and slept.

Dean turned around in his seat and frowned at Enzo as Roman drove.

"You think he's taking this a little too well?"

Roman didn't have to ask what he was talking about.

"I mean, yesterday he said he felt great," he continued, "Was he lying? Or just kinda fucked up from the pain meds we spiked his water with?"

Roman signed, "Could be either," he said, "or..."

Dean looked at him when he stopped, "or?"

"Or maybe you were right." Roman shrugged, "Maybe that match is what's he needed to get Cass out his system, you know? Like... closure or something."

Dean looked back at the sleeping Enzo, "So you think he's good now?"

"I don't know about 'good'." said Roman, "But I do think he'll be better." he shrugged again, "Well at least I _hope_ so."

Dean still kept looking at Enzo's sleeping face, "I still really hate that guy."

Roman nodded, not having to ask to know that Dean was talking about Cass, "You and me both." Roman sighed as he remembered the match. Cass had been brutal. He really hadn't been holding back. One could never have thought that the person he was hurting like that was someone he used to call his brother. Perhaps that was why Enzo wasn't losing sleep over him anymore. It was hard to think of someone with any kind of affection once they did you like that. By the look of anger on the man next to him, Roman knew that he was thinking the same thing.

"I never expected him to be so ruthless." said Dean as he turned back around to look at the road in front of him.

"Tell me about it," muttered Roman. "And I honestly didn't expect Enzo to last that long. He really is tough. Tougher than anyone really gives him credit for."

There had been many a time when Enzo kicked out of a pin when both Dean and Roman thought he was done.

Watching that match had been nothing short of awful for the two of them. The little time they had spent with Enzo had made them feel strangely protective of the little guy, and each time Cass knocked him down they had had to hold each other back from running out into that ring and knocking that seven foot fucker down. But they knew that Enzo would want to do this alone, so they had stayed put. But after the match they had been waiting at the gorilla to help him to the ambulance, but eventually Kurt and the refs had taken over, Kurt telling them to go get ready for their own matches.

It was pure luck that neither Roman nor Dean had run into Cass that night. Needless to say, it wouldn't have ended well for the big man.

"This thing between them probably ain't over." said Roman, "I doubt Enzo's gonna want it to end like that."

"Yeah," sighed Dean, "Enzo verses Cass is probably gonna happen again. Soon."

Dean nodded. Yeah, they'd probably fight again. But next time it happened, Dean didn't plan on staying out of it.

Dean looked at Roman pointedly, "Remember that pact we made a while back? About not getting involved in each other's battles?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, how about we break that pact for a while."

Roman smiled with one side of his mouth, "Ambrose, you took the words right out of my mouth."

:::

When Enzo woke up, he was in a bed again. Which was strange because he didn't remember getting in it. Hell, he hardly remembered leaving Kansas. Were they in Houston already? Enzo looked around and saw that he was in a hotel bedroom with two beds. The bed next to his was empty, as was the room, but he could hear voices on the other side of the door.

Enzo rolled out of the bed, wincing a the the pain in his muscles. Hell, his whole body still hurt like a bitch. He got out of bed slowly and made his way out into the living room area of the hotel room. Dean and Roman were in there fighting, and they had yet to notice Enzo.

"What the hell do you mean, you forbid me?"

"You heard me Reigns! Kurt said banned, so I say banned."

"Dean! You can't just say I can't go!"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. _Banned_ Roman."

"Well it ain't like I'm gonna go to the ring. I can stay away from the cameras too, Kurt won't even know I'm there."

" _Banned_ Roman."

"But Dean!"

"I don't make the rules darlin'."

"Ugh, since when do _you_ care about rules?"

"Since Braun Strowman might be in there looking for blood!"

"Oh please, he's probably still in Kansas licking his wounds."

Dean huffed, tired of this fight, "You're not coming and that's final!" He held out his hand when Roman opened his mouth to protest, "you're gonna stay here and watch on TV like everyone else. For once, you're gonna listen to _me,_ got it?"

Roman just glared at him, but made a grunting noise and Dean knew it was the closest thing to affirmation he was going to get. He grinned triumphantly before turning and finally seeing Enzo at the door.

"Mornin' sleeping beauty." he grinned, "You're up just in time to go back to sleep."

Enzo was surprised to find that's he was still tired, but he fought down a yawn, "What time is it?" he asked instead.

Dean told him and Enzo's eyes widened. "Crap! We're late for the show, why didn't you wake me?"

Dean frowned, "We?"

"Yeah!"

Roman and Dean glanced at each other before snorting, "you're not going." said Roman.

Enzo frowned, "What? Why not?"

"Dude," snorted Dean, "You can hardly take a step without looking like you're in pain."

"What? Yeah I can! I'm fine, honest."

Dean's eyebrows went up, "You're fine?"

Enzo nodded rapidly.

Dean narrowed his eyes, and then strode up to Enzo, lifting his fist and then punching him lightly on his arm. It was a light hit, but to Enzo's aching muscles it could have been a battering ram. To his credit, he didn't scream like he wanted to, but his face couldn't hide the shot of pain he felt.

"See? You're not going anywhere."

Enzo opened his mouth to protest, but then closed it and jus huffed, knowing that arguing wasn't going to get him anywhere.

Dean turned towards the door, grabbing a bag on the way, "Well, I'm off to work," he grinned, "be good kids!" They both glared after him as he walked out the door.

After a few moments of brooding, Roman turned to Enzo, "Well it's a good thing you're up. Your ice-bath is ready."

Enzo blinked at him, "My... my what?"

"Your ice-bath. I told you you'd have to take one back in Kansas."

Enzo's eyes widened, "you... you were serious about that?"

"Hell yeah! Trust me it's great."

Enzo wasn't so sure about that, "Uh, actually, I really am feeling better. I don't think I'll be needing one, but thanks anyway."

He made back towards the bedroom, but was stopped when Roman's large frame was suddenly in front of him.

Enzo all but whimpered.

"Come on," sighed Roman, "None of us like these, but they work wonders for achy muscles, trust me."

Even with his soothing words and light pushes, it took Roman another fifteen minutes to get Enzo down to his boxers and coax him into the icy water. Even then, Enzo swore up a storm with every inch of him that was submerged.

"Motherfucker!" he shrieked as he finally sat down in the bathtub, "You mother _fucker!"_

"There," grinned Roman, "now was that so hard?"

Enzo glared at him, "Yes! Yes it really was that motherfucking hard you motherfucker!"

Roman tried hard not to laugh. He knew how much ice baths sucked. But he also knew that they helped.

"How l-long do I have to st-stay in here?" asked Enzo, already shivering.

"Just an hour."

"WHAT?"

This time Roman did laugh, "I'm kidding! It's ten minutes, tops. Trust me, you'll feel better."

Enzo still highly doubted it. In fact, he was fairly certain that he was going to die of hypothermia in there.

"You want me to stay?" asked Roman, "I could bring a book in here or something."

Enzo shook his head, "Nah I'm good." His body was already getting used to the temperature. Well, not really getting used to it, no one could get used to that. More like, tolerating it.

"Alright," said Roman, "I'm in the next room so shout if you need anything."

Once Roman was out of the bathroom, he sat on the couch with his book. He was about ready to settle down for a peaceful few minutes of reading.

Apparently he had forgotten who he was dealing with.

"Hey Roman!"

Roman looked up, "Yeah?"

"There's a hole in the ceiling in here. You think it was made by bats?"

Roman frowned, "I highly doubt there're bats in this hotel Enzo."

"Oh," came the reply, "bats woulda been cool though."

Roman couldn't help but to disagree as he went back to his book. He managed to get half a page down before-

"Hey Roman!"

"Yeah?"

"If animals could talk, which one would be the bitchiest?"

Roman frowned at the bizarre question, but found himself wondering all the same.

"I'd say a cat," he finally answered, "They're already pretty bitchy without talking, so they probably suck with actual voices."

"I think probably raccoons," said Enzo, "I feel like raccoons are real jerks."

"Yeah, guess they are."

"Okay, you can go back to your reading!"

Roman did so. For about half a minute.

"Hey Roman!"

"Yeah?"

"If tomatoes are fruits, does that make ketchup a smoothie?"

It took Roman a while to think about that one.

"No." he said slowly.

"You sure?"

"... no." He said again.

Enzo asked about seven more of life's deepest questions before Roman finally yelled at him that it was time to get out. He emerged from the bathroom wrapped up in the large beach towel that Roman had left for him.

"Feeling better?"

Enzo just shrugged. Really, he felt a whole lot better, but he wasn't about to admit that the horrible ice bath had actually helped.

He frowned when he saw Roman on the couch with his book. And his glasses

"You wear glasses?" He said, genuinely surprised.

Roman pushed the specs up a little self consciously, "Only for reading," he shrugged.

Enzo nodded, "Is that why you didn't see the ambulance when you dove into it?"

Roman slammed the book down with a glare and Enzo ran out of the room laughing before he could get punched.

:::

A little later, Enzo was dressed warmly and on the coach with Roman, wrapped in blankets to fend off the chill from the ice bath.

The TV was on as they waited for RAW to start. Enzo seemingly wasn't done with his life questions. Roman had given up on reading a long time ago.

The questions ranged from, "What's your favourite fruit?" to, "Do you think God is real?"

Roman tried to answer them all, as best he could. Enzo answered his own questions too, and. Romqn couldn't help but laugh at some of them, like the fact that he once had a dog that he named 'Cat' because he was convinced he was gay.

It was a few minutes before the show started when Enzo turned to Roman and looked at him intensely.

"Hey Roman?"

Roman looked back at him, "Yeah Enzo?"

"Does it bother you that most of the WWE universe hates you?"

Roman blinked. He hadn't been expecting that, and honestly, he didn't really know how to answer.

He thought for a while before sighing, "A little. I guess. Maybe." he sighed, "I dunno man. I think it bothers Dean more than it bothers me. Jimmy and Jey get real pissed when I get booed, but I just kinda let it brush past me, you know?"

Enzo sighed, "Well you're a bigger man than me."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah!" He exclaimed, "I mean, I definitely wouldn't take it so well if everyone booed me for no good reason."

Roman shrugged, "Nah, they got their reasons."

Enzo snorted, "Like what?"

Roman shrugged again, "well _I_ don't know."

Enzo thought for a while, "they can't still hate you 'cause of the whole Undertaker thing."

Roman snorted, "Are you kidding? _I_ still hate me cause of the whole Undertaker thing."

Enzo's eyebrows shot up, "What?"

"Well yeah," shrugged Roman, "The man's my Idol. You think I wanted to retire you Idol? It killed me. But I couldn't disrespect him by giving less than my best in that match, you know?"

Enzo nodded slowly, and they stayed silent for a few seconds.

"Hey Roman?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think chickens have feelings?"

:::

When it was finally time for the show, Roman fetched some beers and set them down on the floor between them. He had a feeling that they would be needing them. Enzo had gotten rid of the blankets once the after effects of the ice bath were gone. Plus, it was hot in Texas.

RAW started with highlights from Great Balls of Fire. Mostly, it was the ambulance match. And... everything that happened after that. Roman's eyes widened as he watched himself crash that ambulance with Strowman inside. The TV made it look a lot worse than it had actually been in his opinion. Roman looked at Enzo with narrowed eyes the entire time, daring him to say something. Enzo stared ahead and bit his tongue, feeling the eyes boring into the side of his face.

After that, it was announced that they were live from the Toyota Centre in Houston Texas, and Roman and Enzo sat slumped on the couch, hating that they were here instead of there.

The screen showed Jojo in the ring and she introduced... Big Cass.

Roman didn't even try to hide his snarl as the arrogant piece of horse shit strode down the ramp with his stupid new song. Enzo just watched in silence, downing most of the beer in his hand before Cass was even in the ring.

Cass stood in the ring smirking for a while as he was booed, before raising the mic to his mouth.

"How ya doin'?" He asked the crowd.

"That's _my_ line!" Shouted Enzo, "he can't still be using my lines! Come up with your own shit you little shit!"

Cass went on to tell everyone how great _he_ was doing after what he had done to Enzo last night.

Enzo muttered curses at the screen as Cass went on about how great he was. Roman cracked open another beer and handed it to the angry little man. Well, angry beats sad, right?

It was then that Cass showed shots from last nights match, and even a video of Enzo being helped backstage.

"Why'd he have to show that?" Enzo grumbled, "I mean, that's just mean."

Cass called himself the future of the WWE nad Roman scoffed. He'd heard that one before.

Cass went on and on about his inevitable success and Roman rolled his eyes.

"He sure does talk a lot." He snarled.

"It's cause he's an arrogant dick." Muttered Enzo.

"Vain little asshat." glared Roman.

"Stupid barbaric bitch."

"Total waste of seven feet."

"Motherfucking douchbag."

"...dumb blond bimbo."

Enzo turned to Roman slowly, a laugh ghosting his lips, "dumb blond bimbo?"

Roman shrugged apologetically, "I can't just come up with these off the top of my head like you do"

Enzo looked back at the TV, chuckling. Cass was still talking.

He was in the middle of boasting about how tall he was when he was interrupted. The loud siren like blare was unmistakeable.

Roman and Enzo both shot half off the couch with wide eyes staring at the screen.

"Dean?!" they shouted together.

:::

Dean Ambrose came sauntering out of the gorilla looking as chilled out as he always did. Except for the Kendo stick he was dragging behind him.

Dean hadn't really planned on going out there. He had been sitting backstage watching Cass talk with a scowl that might as well have been carved into his face. He knew he should've just stayed put and wait for the big idiot to finish is stupid little speech, but Dean wasn't really known for doing the what he was supposed to. So he had stormed to the gorilla, grabbed a stick that was just lying there.

Big Cass stood in the middle of the ring and glared as Dean took his sweet time. By the look on his face, he hadn't forgotten the shopping cart incident. And he was still hella pissed.

Dean finally got to the ring, followed by the cheers of the crowd, and climbed the steps lazily. As soon as he was inside, Big Cass advanced, clearly having forgotten about the stick. Quicker than anything, Dean swung the stick like a baseball bat straight into Cass's abdomen. The big man bent over with a groan, and Dean took the opportunity to nail him again in the back of his knees.

Cass went down, and Dean rained down some more hits on his back until he was writhing on the mat. Once finally satisfied, Dean cracked his neck and not-so-gently nudged Cass with his feet until he rolled out under the bottom rope. Dean nodded at his handy work and then picked up the mic that Cass had dropped.

"Well now that the trash is out, how about we get on with this show, yeah?"

The crowd cheered back and Dean popped the gum in his mouth.

"Now, I ain't one to complain about losing a match, no I can take that like a man. But it does kinda bug me how I missed yet another shot at my title because The Miz doesn't have the jewels to do anything without his guard dogs! Now as we all know..."

Dean stopped when he saw at the edge of the ring that Cass was getting back up. He glared at Dean inside the ring, baring his teeth.

Dean raised his eyebrows, "What, you want some more, Cassandra?"

Cass snarled at the name and grabbed at the bottom rope.

Dean grinned at him, twirling the stick in his hand. Cass hesitated, and Dean called for him to get in, because he really wanted to hit him some more. Before Cass could decide whether he was going to run away or not, the arena boomed with the general managers music. Dean groaned as Angle walked out of the gorilla holding a mic and looking all authoritative.

Once his music stopped, Dean spoke, "You're a real mood killer, you know that Kurt?"

"Dean, always a pleasure talking to you." Kurt sighed into the mic, "Now, I'm gonna have to stop you two right there. If you want a fight, you do so in a match. So put that stick down Ambrose."

Dean did not put the stick down, "Well then are you here to give me a rematch?"

"Unfortunately Ambrose, last night _was_ your rematch. If you want another shot at the Intercontinental Championship, I'm afraid you're gonna have to get to the back of the line."

Dean cursed and puffed a breath out of his nose, "Well Kurt if you're gonna take that away from me, at least let me carry on beating on Cassandra here."

Big Cass snarled and pulled himself up onto the apron and Dean grinned, getting ready with his stick.

"Now hang on!" Yelled Kurt, "This is Monday Night RAW and we do things with order, alright?"

Dean groaned and lowered his arm again. He glared at Angle the buzzkill.

"Now if you two want a match, you can have one."

Dean grinned.

"Next week."

Dean stopped grinning.

"That's Dean Ambrose verses Big Cass next week on Monday Night RAW. Oh it's true!"

"IT'S DAMN TRUE!"

:::

Dean was kinda nervous to go back to the hotel room. He knew that Roman was probably going to be a little pissed that he had gone after Cass without him. And he'd probably be a little (a lot) jealous that he was going to get to do it again the following week. But Roman would just have to understand that sometimes someone needed a beating right there and then and it was real hard to wait for 'the right time'.

Dean turned the room key and went inside with a deep breath, "Okay, I know you're mad," he started as soon as he was inside, "And I know we were _both_ going to get the beating on the Casshole and I know I kinda jumped the gun but I-" Dean stopped with a frown when he noticed that Roman wasn't standing by the door with a scowl on his face and his arms crossed like he had been expecting. Instead, he and Enzo were sitting on the couch, with huge matching grins on their faces.

"Come here you little lunatic!" Roman held out his arms to Dean.

Dean's eyebrows went up slowly, "Huh."

"Cassandra?" Enzo laughed, "why the he'll didn't I think of that?"

"And that Kendo stick?" grinned Roman, "You should have seen his face Dean, the camera captured it perfectly. Actually, here, we recorded it."

Dean stood there and blinked as he processed, "Wait... so, I'm not in trouble?"

"Trouble?" Roman snorted, "Sure I wish I had been there, but that couldn't have been more perfect Ambrose."

Dean grinned and dropped his bag, going to join them on the couch, "You know that is exactly the argument I was planning on the way here."

They laughed and Enzo finally got to the part of RAW where Dean was beating the crap out of Cass. Roman had been right, the camera picked up everything. And it was beautiful.

Enzo's grinning face kept switching from the screen to Dean and Roman as they talked some more about how much fun it was going to be to hurt Cassandra. Dean mentioned bringing back his baseball bat which was covered with barbed wire, and Roman wondered if that was necessary.

"Hey, if you can crash people into trucks, then I can hit them with barbed wire, okay?"

"For the love of God!" Roman threw his hands up, "Are you two gonna get tired of this joke anytime soon?"

Dean and Enzo glanced at each other with matching grins, "Don't count on it, Reigns."


	6. Broken Families

**So... I just remembered that I have to write disclaimers for every chapter stating that I don't own these people that I'm writing about. I'm six chapters too late, but here goes anyway;**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own WWE or the Superstars I write about. If I did, I'd be doing a whole lot more with them than just writing... If ya know what I'm saying...**

 **Ahem. Anyway. Enjoy.**

 **:::**

Roman was shocked awake by a horribly loud buzzing coming from the other side of the room. His eyes widened as he recognized the awful sound as his emergency cell. He leapt out of bed, shocking the other two awake as he dug through his jeans before holding the phone to his ear.

"Gina?" he yelled into the phone, "What? What's going on? What happened?"

 _"Hello Roman."_ Came the voice on the other end.

"What's going on? What's wrong?" he asked again, panicked.

 _"I'm just reminding you that Jojo's ballet recital for her summer day camp is tomorrow."_

Roman blinked, the panic slowly going away from his face.

"Ballet recital?"

 _"Uh huh."_

Roman sighed slowly, sinking down to sit on the bed, "Gina. You... you used the emergency phone."

 _"Uh huh."_ She said again.

Roman sighed again, rubbing his head, "Gina. That... that's not an emergency."

 _"It is, because you forgot about it Roman. You have to be here!"_

"I didn't forget about the recital."

Roman could feel her rolling her eyes on the other end, _"Of course not."_

 _"_ I'll be there Gina!"

 _"Yeah you'd better."_

"How about next time you use the emergency phone for _emergencies,_ woman."

" _Don't you use that tone with me, Reigns."_

"I'll use whatever damn tone I want!" he huffed.

 _"Ugh, Roman just get your ass here before tomorrow or so help me God."_

"You act like I've missed a recital before!"

 _"Yeah, you come every time because I remind you. Just like I'm reminding you right now."_

"I didn't forget!"

 _"Alright Roman."_ She sighed.

"I didn't!"

 _"I said alright."_ She said, her voice all condescending like.

Roman glared at the phone, "I'm gonna hang up now."

 _"Alright Roman."_

Roman pressed the end call button as hard as he could without risking any damage to the screen.

He turned back to the beds and saw Enzo and Dean sitting up and staring at him.

He blinked at them, "Uh... Gina says hi."

"That didn't sound like 'hi'." said Dean.

"Yeah," sighed Roman, "Jojo has a ballet recital tomorrow and I totally forgot about it."

Dean raised his eyebrow, "We gotta go to that?"

Roman shot him with a look, and Dean cleared his threat.

"I mean, we get to go to that? Yay." He grinned a too wide grin.

"Nice save," glared Roman.

Dean smiled sheepishly, "Roman, I love your daughter like she's my own, you know that. But dude, Jojo has the grace of a blind hyena. With ADHD. And arthritis. And hemorrhoids. And-"

"Dude!" Roman stopped him.

Dean just shrugged, "We both know its true."

"Jojo is a wonderful dancer," insisted Roman.

"Nope." said Dean simply.

Roman just snarled at him, "Get out of bed and get ready you jerk."

Dean wanted to sleep some more, but he figured he had tested Roman enough. For now.

He saw Enzo try to lay back down and Dean scoffed, wrenching the covers away from him, "Hell no kid. If I gotta get up, you gotta get up."

Enzo groaned at the loss of warmth, but started to get out of bed nonetheless.

"Pensacola." Thought Dean out loud. "That's, what, 8 hours away?"

Roman nodded as he buzzed around the room, packing up and getting excited at the thought of seeing his daughter.

If there was just one thing Roman hated about his job, it was the fact that he had to spent weeks away from his baby-girl at a time. He could hardly wait to see her again in about 8 hours. Well, eight hours if these two idiots would just hurry up and get ready.

"Why the hell are you both still in bed?" He thundered, "Someone get to the shower!"

"Uh. Not me." said Enzo, "I took a bath yesterday."

Roman rolled his eyes, "If there's no soap It doesn't count. Now get in there, it's a long drive to Florida."

Enzo sighed in defeat and made his way to the bathroom. He knew that Roman was getting impatient and he had to hurry, but he didn't expect Roman to be banging on the door two minutes in. Enzo took the most rushed shower he had ever had to take, with Roman yelling at him to hurry the hell up the entire time. Almost as soon he opened the door to the bathroom, Roman was waiting there to shove Dean in after him.

He must really be missing his wife and daughter. Enzo had never really met them, but he'd seen them at WretleMania a few times sitting in the front and cheering him on. The three of them pretty much looked like the perfect family.

"Enzo, why are you still naked?!"

"I'm... I'm wearing pants."

"Get dressed!"

"I only been out the shower for thirty seconds!" he exclaimed.

Roman only glared. He knew he was being a pain, but he was just really anxious to get going already.

When Dean stepped out of the bathroom wrapped only in a towel, Roman flew in after him, and two minutes later, he was out again.

"Okay lets go!"

Dean smiled affectionately after him, "He gets crazy about baby Jojo," he explained to Enzo, "You'll get used to it."

:::

"Eight hours is a long time Roman," sighed Dean as they got into the car, "Maybe we should just fly."

"No no," said Roman, "We'll drive."

"I'm sure Enzo would rather fly. Wouldn't you rather fly Enzo."

From the back seat, Enzo cleared his throat, "Uh well, flying would be great. But, uh... I'm not really, uh, allowed to fly. At the moment."

Dean and Roman glanced at each other with narrowed yes, and then turned to look at Enzo.

"Not allowed to fly?" said Dean slowly.

Enzo shrugged a little.

"What... what does that mean?"

Enzo looked at the tear in his pants, "I may be ... kinda... like... on the, uh, no-fly list."

Two pairs of eyes widened at each other, and then back at Enzo.

"You're on the what?" asked Roman, needing clarification.

Enzo's eyes wandered around the car, "You know, the... the list. Of people who aren't allowed to fly. In planes."

"Yeah we know what it is!" said Dean, completely turning in his seat, "You gotta be like, a terrorist to get on that list, right?"

Roman's eyes widened, "Dude are you a terrorist?"

"No!" exclaimed Enzo, "I ain't no terrorist, come on!"

"Then how the hell did you get on the no-fly list?"

"Its a real long story, and we're already in a hurry so let's just go, yeah?"

Dean scoffed, "oh, you ain't getting out of this that easy."

Enzo looked from one face to the other as they stared at him, waiting for him to talk.

He sighed, "Alright, here's the short version. About two years ago I was training to get a pilots lisense, right, cause, you know, who doesn't want a pilots license? I was getting pretty good, so one time when I was flying to Canada I saw the pilots step outta the cockpit for a while and I thought it'd be fun if I practiced on a real plane a little. So... I did. I just went in there and closed the door and took the plane off Autopilot and... well, long story short, I almost crashed the plane and the capitain got mad and called the air police and _they_ got mad and then they told me I couldn't fly for two years. So yeah."

Enzo gave a tight lipped smile as he finished the story. There was a long silence in the car for a while as Roman and Dean just looked at him. Enzo cleared his throat, starting to get a little uncomfortable.

"So... so let me see if I got this right," said Dean slowly, a laugh ghosting his lips, "You..." he cleared his throat, "you hijacked an airplane?"

"I feel like 'hijack' is a really strong word." shrugged Enzo.

"No no," Roman held up a finger, "no no. It's hijack. You... you hijacked. And airplane."

Dean was having a harder time holding in his laughter than before, "Dude, you hijacked a place."

Enzo stuck his tongue in his cheek and shrugged,"Well, if you wanna be technical."

Dean really did try not to laugh. He really did. He knew that hijacking planes was no laughing matter, but he just couldn't help it. It started with a series of snorts, but before long he was holding his stomach and trying to keep the tears from leaking out of the corners of his eyes. Roman's face was a cross between exasperated, disturbed and fascinated. Disturbed because what the fuck kind of psycho decided it would be a good idea to steal a fucking plane?! And fascinated because, well, it took guts to steal a plane. Guts and stupidity and utter insanity sure, but guts all the same.

But still, it was totally psychotic.

Enzo sat quietly in the backseat as Dean chortled and Roman looked at him weirdly. He'd never told anyone that story before. Except Cass, because that's who he had called to bail him out. When people asked, he just told them that he didn't like flying, not that he'd be arrested if he was seen anywhere near an airport.

"You hijacked. A plane." Roman said again, still trying to comprehend the fact that this guy had hijacked a freaking plane.

Enzo shrugged again, "but don't worry, I get off the list at the end of August. So it'll be totally behind me. Well, it'll be a permanent record on my name, but other than that, totally behind me."

Roman let out a long sigh as he turned back to the wheel. He looked at Dean, who was starting to recover from his little fit.

"You see, this is why I don't fly. Because of crazy people like him."

"Nah man," Dean shook his head, wiping his eyes, "Crazy people like him don't just exist. Our Enzo's a damn freak." He laughed some more as Roman started the car, he too starting to chuckle lightly.

Enzo couldn't help his smile.

'Damn freak.'

He got called that a lot. But unlike everyone else, these guys said it like it was a good thing.

:::

Pensacola was a long way away from Houston.

Dean started off excited about the impending road trip. The excitement kinda waned after about three hours though.

"We should stop for a bathroom break," he groaned.

"We stopped for a bathroom break twenty minutes ago," sighed Roman.

"Well I didn't have to go then," he grumbled.

"Last time I checked, I had _one_ kid. And she's waiting for me in Pensacola, and we'll never get there if you wanna keep stopping!"

Dean mumbled something under his breath, but stopped asking for a bathroom break. He shifted a lot in his seat, complaining about not having any space. Enzo didn't have that problem. There was ample leg room in the back seat. He could even lie down quite comfortably if he let his legs dangle out the window. But Roman told him that he wasn't allowed to do that.

They drove for most of the day, only stopping once in a while for food or to stretch their legs, and twice for a tunnel.

Dean eventually fell asleep, lying the back of his seat down. They passed a sign that read, "Welcome to Florida" and Roman asked Enzo to wake Dean up. Enzo shook him a few times with no result.

"He ain't gonna wake up unless you just lightly hit him," said Roman.

Enzo lifted his fist, and swung at Dean, but was stopped by Roman's hand.

"I said lightly!"

Slightly disappointed, Enzo tapped Dean on the face several times until the sleeping man started to swat him away.

"Get up sleeping beauty!" Yelled Enzo, stealing the name Dean had used for him.

Dean woke up groggily, and it took another five minutes before he was fully awake.

"We there yet?" He yawned.

"About twenty minutes out," said Roman. It was evident from his face how excited he was to see his wife and kid. Enzo saw the look start to show on Dean's face too.

That got Enzo thinking, "Hey, you don't think your wife's gonna have a problem with me staying with you?"

"My wife?" Roman said with a frown, and then he nodded in realization, "Oh, right, Gina."

Dean scoffed, "She is _not_ his wife," he said firmly.

Enzo frowned a little, "Uh, yeah she is."

"Nope." Said Dean, "No she's not."

Enzo's eyebrows knitted together in confusion as he looked at Roman, "She's not?"

Roman shook his head, "Hell no. I mean, she was. Years ago. But we got divorced a little after Jojo was born. She kept my last name though, and we let people think we're married to avoid all the drama."

Enzo frowned, completely surprised, "You're divorced? But... but I've seen her at shows. She came to WrestleMania with your daughter right?"

"Yeah well, it was a good divorce. We parted on real good terms, you know?" he explained, "Decided that things were better with us just being friends. She comes to shows to support me. And when she's not being an absolute bitch, she's my best friend."

At that, Dean turned his head slowly, and fixed Roman with a long look with narrowed eyes. Upon seeing the look, Roman cleared his threat, "Second. She's my second best friend. I meant second." He smiled a toothy smile and patted Dean's leg.

Dean just scoffed and looked back at the road.

Enzo couldn't help but snort, and Roman cleared his throat again, "Anyway, to answer your question, no she won't care." Suddenly, something occurred to Roman and he frowned, "You do wanna come right? I mean, it feels like we've just been dragging you around with us without even asking you. If you get tired of us, Just let us know."

Enzo fought back a scoff, "Course not, I'm happy to come." He smiled.

As if he'd get tired of these two. He was more worried about when _they'd_ get tired of _him._ Enzo knew that it was bound to happen eventually. It was quite inevitable really. He wasn't looking forward that day, but he had to face facts. He was having a good time with Roman and Dean. He loved being part of their little group. The way they so easily included him in everything they did these past weeks made him feel all warm inside... not that he'd ever admit that out loud. Of course there was the little voice in the back of his head (a voice that sounded suspiciously like Colin Cassady) that reminded him that they'd get rid of him eventually, but Enzo didn't want to think about that right now. He'd just enjoy this while it lasted.

And damn, he hoped that it would last.

:::

About seven hours and thirty minutes after leaving Houston, Roman's blue truck pulled into a very large and very beautiful house. It was two stories high and painted a pearl white. The stone driveway led to a big oak door, that was wretched open as soon as the car stopped.

The smile on Roman's face was radiant as six year old Joanne Reigns came sprinting out of the house.

"DADDY!" she shrieked.

Roman leapt out of the car, not even bothering to kill the engine, and ran to his daughter.

"JOJO!" he yelled back. As soon as he was close enough, he scooped the little girl into his arms and hugged her as tightly as he could.

"Oh, baby girl, I missed you so much!" he said as he showered kisses all over her face.

Jojo giggled as she squirmed under all the kisses, "I missed you too Daddy! I missed you so so so so much!"

"How much did you miss me?" he asked, setting her down and crouching next to her.

"I missed you this big!" she said, spreading her little arms as wide as they could go.

"Oh yeah? Well I missed you _this_ much," he spread out his own arms, "Which is a lot more than you."

Jojo giggled, covering her mouth, "No fair daddy, your arms are longer, that's cheating!"

Roman grinned at her, "Can't get anything past you huh baby girl." he hugged her hard again and she wrapped her own little arms around his neck.

"So what, I don't get a hug Jojo?"

Jojo laughed when she saw the pouting man behind her father, "DEAN!"

She let go of Roman and ran behind him. She jumped up into Dean's arms and squeezed him back as he hugged her.

"You didn't miss me at all," he sniffed as he held her at arms length.

"I did!" insisted Jojo, "I missed you a whole lot too, Dean, honest!"

"Promise?" smirked Dean.

Jojo nodded her head so vigorously little strands came out of her plaited hair.

Dean grinned and ruffled her head, messing it up even more, "that's my girl." He walked her over to Roman and he took his daughter back into his arms, where she then proceeded to start talking a mile a minute, telling them everything had happened since she had last seen them.

"And Mama made me go to a summer camp and its really fun and Daddy guess what!? Tomorrow's my ballet recital for my Summer camp only it's not even a real camp because we don't even get to sleep over and they don't let us build a fire 'cause it's too hot and Miss Hattie said I'm not allowed to have matches anymore because of what happened to Molly Carsons hair only it wasn't even my fault so don't listen to Mama when she says it is, and Molly was my friend but she isn't anymore because I by accident made her a baldy but she's still in the front row for the ballet show which I'm gonna be in are you gonna come see me?" she looked between Roman and Dean with wide eyes as she caught a well needed breath.

"Of course we'll be there darlin'," chuckled Dean.

Jojo clapped her hands together with a laugh! "Yaay! And when you see Molly's baldy head you can laugh if you want, only do it quiet or else Miss Hattie will send you to the naughty corner for the whole of play time."

"You spend a lot of time in the naughty corner don't you." sighed Roman.

Jojo nodded, only slightly ashamed.

Dean couldn't help but laugh at the wonderful little girl. How a rascal like her came from Roman the do-gooder and the uptight Gina was beyond him. It was then that Gina Reigns came strutting out of the house.

"Mama look! It's Daddy!" Shouted Jojo.

Even Gina's usually pursed face softened at her daughter, "I told you I had a surprise for you didn't I?" she grinned.

"I thought it was a pony!" she giggled, "But I like Daddy and Dean better than a pony."

Gina walked up to them And brushed Jojo's head with his her hand, "Seeing as it took you a whole day to get here, I take it you were too much of a wimp to get on a plane, Roman."

She and Dean sniggered at each other as Roman glared. Even Jojo giggled at her fathers expence.

"Daddy's a wimp," she snorted into her hands.

"Actually," said Roman firmly, glaring at all of them, "It is not because of me we didn't fly. It's 'cause of Enzo."

"Who?" Gina asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Enzo, he's-" Roman looked and realizing that Enzo was nowhere to be seen. He and Dean frowned at each other, and then at the car. They saw Enzo's silhouette in the backseat through the tinted windows.

Why the fuck was he still in the car?

Jojo gasped, "Daddy!" she hissed, "There's a person in your car."

The fuck was he still doing in the car?

"That's our friend Enzo baby girl," exlained Roman, as Dean made back towards the car "He's gonna stay with us while-" Roman was interrupted by Jojo's gasp.

"Enzo?" she whispered loudly, staring wide eyed at her daddy, "Enzo 'More?!"

Dean sighed, going towards the car. For someone so damn loud, it looked like Enzo had a shy side.

He wretched the door open and poked his head in, "The fuck are you doing in here?"

Enzo just blinked up at him, "Oh I was just... waiting. You know, that looked like a real family moment there. Didn't wanna intrude."

Dean sighed. This guy obviously had some issues. Dean would have to coax him out gently. So he grabbed Enzo by the arm and pulled him out after him. Gently of course.

Enzo would be lying if he said he wasn't just the tiniest bit wary. Gina Reigns was as intimidating as she was gorgeous. She looked like the kind of woman you didn't want to get on the wrong side of. And little Jojo was as adorable as six year olds came, and she was obviously the most adored child in the world.

Enzo felt a lot of preassure for them to like him. Or at least tolerate him. Usually he didn't care what anyone thought, well not much anyway, but this was Roman's family. And basically, Dean's family too. If they didn't like him might as well just take a cab to his place in Orlando right now. If they didn't like hi-

"Enzo 'More!?"

Jojo's shriek snapped Enzo from his thoughts and he blinked at the little girl in Roman's arms.

"ENZO 'MORE?!" she shrieked again, "AAAAAAAH!"

Enzo still just blinked at the little girl. Obviously he didn't expect her to jump him like she had Dean and Roman, she didn't even know him. But he also hadn't expected her to scream.

For a little girl of six, that Jojo sure had a powerful set of lungs. She screamed loud and hard when she saw Enzo, probably rattling a few windows in the distance and definitely bursting at least one of Roman's ear drums.

Next to him, Dean laughed, "She must be a fan."

Enzo stared at her wide eyed as she screamed. Without even taking a breathe, she scrambled out of Roman's arms and ran to Enzo, proceeding to jump and dance around him.

"MAMA ITS ENZO 'MORE!"

"Yeah honey, I see that," laughed Gina.

Jojo just kept jumping circles around Enzo, occasionally shaking in one place spastically. It took Enzo a moment to realize that she was trying to do the running man. She was copying what he did in the ring.

The grin on his face could've rivaled all the others put together.

"You do a mean running man Jojo," he chuckled as he crouched down to be at eye level with her.

"I know!" she shrieked with a giggle, jumping up and down in front of him, "I know I do. Enzo 'More! It's exactly like your one!"

"Exactly like mine?" Enzo gave her an exaggerated scoff, "Are ya kiddin, yours is a zillion times better than mine!"

Jojo clapped her hands together in utter elation. She turned back to her mom, not breaking from her jumping, "Mama its ENZO!"

"It sure is sweetie."

Without warning, Jojo turned back to Enzo and threw her little body at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

Enzo stood up with her in his arms and walked towards the others, a wide grin still plastered on his face.

"I think she likes me."

:::

As Roman had assured, Gina didn't seem to care that she had an unexpected guest. Besides, she probably couldn't have complained even if she wanted to considering how excited her daughter was. Jojo had taken it upon herself to give Enzo a tour of the entire house.

Yes, all of it.

She grabbed his hand and led her to every object and room and explained its purpose.

"And this is the kitchen where the food happens, and this is the stove which I'm not 'llowed to touch 'cause it's made of fire and that's the f'idge that I'm not 'llowed to touch 'cause that's where the ices live and that's the knife drawer which I'm not 'llowed to touch 'cause that's how owies happen and that's the pantry where all the food lives and that's the mic'oway and-"

After forty minutes, they had gone through the whole house and all it's rooms. Enzo never thought he'd ever actually enjoy a house tour, but the little girl was proving him wrong. The last was the downstairs bathroom.

"And that's the toilet where you pee and poo" she giggled for a good five minutes at that, "and that's the p'unger which I'm not 'llowed to touch anymore 'cause Molly tattled on me."

Finally, she ended with the dining room where Roman, Dean and Gina sat at the dinner table.

"And that's my mama Gina 'xept I'm not 'llowed to call her that and that's my daddy Roman 'xept I'm not 'allowed to call him that and that's my other daddy Dean but I just call him Dean and that's all. And this is the dinner table where we have to sit with our elbows off the table and this is your chair that you can sit in now,"

She dragged the heavy chair out from under the table and pushed Enzo down onto it before leaping onto his lap.

Roman shook his head at Enzo, "You stole my daughter."

Enzo grinned. He couldn't even try to feel bad about it.

:::

Jojo was asleep within five minutes, deciding that all the grown-ups talking was too boring for her liking. Besides, she had tired herself out with all the excitement of the day.

"Should I take her to bed?" Enzo asked Gina. She shook her head.

"Just drop her on the couch, she'll be up soon anyway."

Enzo carried the sleeping girl to the living room and lay her gently onto the couch, where she immediately curled up around a pillow.

Knowing Jojo, she would be out for the next couple hours at least. Gina was going to wake her for dinner and then she'd go straight to bed. What with the day camp and the surprise of Daddy and Dean and the appearance of Enzo 'More, it had been a long day for the little girl.

Gina sent the boys to get their stuff out of the car and then get straight to the shower because apparently they smelt like the road. Enzo didn't even know that that was a thing, but he didn't dare disobey Gina Reigns. For the small amount of time he had known her, Enzo could tell that she was obviously the boss of all of them.

Enzo knew from the tour Jojo had given him that he house had four bedrooms, all of them on the first floor. The master bedroom obviously belonged to Gina, and the room next to that one was Jojo's. The room farthest down the hallway, Jojo had called 'Daddy and Dean's room'. The last guest room would be Enzo's. Enzo kinda felt bad. He assumed that this was the room that Dean usually slept in, and now he'd obviously offered the room to Enzo. These guys really were too nice. There were two bathrooms upstairs and Roman pointed Enzo to the one closest to the guest room while he took the other. Dean would probably follow whoever finished first.

When Enzo finished showering he decided to tell the other two that Dean should to take his room back as he didn't mind the couch. Enzo stepped out of the bathroom just in time to see Dean step into the other one. Which meant that Roman was done. But as he looked around the house, Roman was nowhere to be found. Jojo was still asleep and drooling onto the couch pillow and Gina was busy in the kitchen.

Where was Roman?

Enzo went to the kitchen to ask Gina.

"He's probably in the shower still." She said. Enzo frowned.

"But Dean's in the shower."

"Uh huh," she said simply as she rummaged through the fridge.

Enzo frowned, "But… but if Dean's in the shower, where's Roman? They can't both be in the same shower."

Gina stopped her rummaging and turned to look at Enzo with narrowed eyes. And then she smirked.

"Guess you're right. Why don't you go check who's in there?"

Enzo raised his eyebrows a little at her weird tone, but he shrugged and went back upstairs.

The spray of the shower was loud even as Enzo approached the bathroom. He'd just open the door a crack and see who was in there.

And no, it wasn't weird to open the door a crack while someone was showering.

It wasn't weird.

And besides, Gina had told him to, so anyone who accused him of being weird could blame her.

Enzo turned the doorknob as quietly as possible. Even though he wasn't being weird, he still didn't wanna get caught.

Enzo opened the door only a crack, so he could see who was inside.

His mouth dropped open when he did.

Dean was in there alright. And… and so was Roman.

They were in the shower under the hot spray. Both of them. Naked. In the shower.

 _…Together._

Oh.

OH.

Enzo's eyes were so wide it almost hurt.

The room was filled with steam, but Enzo could still see everything perfectly clearly. And it was perfectly clear when he saw Roman lean over and whisper something into Dean's ear. Dean chuckled before pushing Roman against the wall of the shower and then… and then he kissed him.

Dean was _kissing_ Roman.

Dean and Roman were _making out!_

 _Naked!_

In the _shower!_

Dean and Roman were making out naked in the shower!

Holy shit!

Enzo could not believe what he was looking at.

But then again, this… this explained a lot.

At that moment Enzo realised what an idiot he was.

When Enzo walked back to the kitchen in a daze, Gina was waiting with a smirk on her face.

"I take it you didn't know."

Enzo looked at her with wide eyes and shook his head.

Gina laughed and motioned for him to come help her with the chopping. Once he was in his element, the shock started to fade a little. It's then that he realised that he was more shocked than he was surprised. Because this all kinda made perfect sense. What with the way they looked at each other and the way they were always somehow touching and the way they were way too protective of each other and the way they were both wrapped around each other's little finger. Enzo guessed he had been too lost in his own stuff to notice, but now that he thought about it, the fact that Dean and Roman were a couple was quite obvious.

"How long have you been riding with them anyway?" asked Gina.

"Just about two weeks." Said Enzo.

"Two whole weeks and you were clueless the entire time?" she scoffed, "Come on, you must've noticed _something._ You never even suspected?"

Enzo shook his head, "Not even once."

"I've seen them on the road Enzo, they share a freaking bed."

Enzo shrugged, "Well, there's two beds in the hotel rooms and they always let me have one instead of the couch. I… I thought they were being nice.'

Gina laughed, shaking her head, "You really are an idiot, Amore."

Enzo sighed, knowing that she was right.

:::

Gina and Enzo were almost done with dinner when Dean and Roman finally showed up downstairs, their faces still flushed from the shower and their hair till wet. Well Dean's was wet, Roman's was perfectly blow dried as usual.

Enzo had planned on very calmly asking why they hadn't bothered to tell him that they were together but as soon as they were down, he marched to stop them at the bottom of the stairs.

"You two are a thing!" he yelled, pointing an accusing finger at them.

Dean and Roman blinked at him, and then looked at each other.

"Uh, yeah." Shrugged Dean.

Enzo gaped at their nonchalance

"Well- well why didn't you tell me?"

Roman frowned, "What do you mean?"

Enzo just crossed his arms.

"Wait, you mean you didn't know?" asked Roman.

"Of course I didn't know!" exclaimed Enzo.

Dean snorted, "Dude, you're kidding."

Enzo's face told him that he was not kidding.

"Seriously?" Dean gaped.

"Yeah, seriously!"

"You've been riding with a moron boys!" Gina yelled from the kitchen.

Dean couldn't help but laugh, "You really _are_ an idiot. Dude, it ain't like we've been hiding it."

"Well _I_ never saw anything."

Roman scoffed, "Well we've been sharing a room. It ain't like we were gonna do anything with you in the other bed."

"Yeah," grinned Dean, "neither of us is a quiet cummer."

Enzo made a face, "I didn't really need to know that."

Dean laughed, always happiest when he was making someone uncomfortable.

"Well how did you eventually figure it out?" asked Roman.

"Uh, Gina told me." he said, deciding that, 'I saw you in the shower' wouldn't be so well received.

"Dude, no offense, but you're slow." Roman shook his head, "Most of the roster knows, how could you be so out of the loop."

"There's a lot of stuff I don't know." admitted Enzo.

"Yeah," laughed Dean, "we got that."

:::

Jojo was awaken for dinner and they all enjoyed a delicious roast chicken and mashed potatoes, which Jojo told Enzo was her favourite. Dean told him not to believe her because apparently everything was her favourite. After dinner, Jojo insisted on making everyone sit and watch a movie with her. When wondering what to watch, they told her to pick her favourite, but that took a really long time because she had about fourteen favourites.

She asked Enzo to pick for her, and much to everyone else's distress, he chose Frozen.

"Why would you do that?" Roman all but whimpered.

"I like Frozen, sue me." Enzo shrugged.

No one was surprised when Jojo performed every single song as it came on, not caring that she couldn't sing to save her life. They were surprised, however, that Enzo sang it with her all the way through.

By the time they were halfway through the movie, Enzo and Jojo were skipping around as they sang Olaf's song. Badly. Roman leaned close to the others.

"So is no one gonna ask why Enzo knows the entire Frozen soundtrack?"

"Honestly I'm afraid of the answer," sighed Gina.

Once Frozen (mercifully) ended, Gina insisted that it was bed time for Jojo, much to the little girl's protests, because she wasn't even tired. Finally giving in to her mother's stern looks, Jojo hugged everyone goodnight and dragged Roman up to tuck her in.

As soon as she was in her pajamas and in her bed, Jojo realised that she actually was quite tired.

She yawned as she sat in bed and Roman arranged the comforter around her.

"Daddy, when do you have to go again?"

"We have to leave on Sunday baby girl," sighed Roman sadly.

"Sunday?" Jojo scrunched up her nose, as she counted on her fingers, "That's a whole five sleeps!"

Roman smiled and nodded at her. Five sleeps wasn't nearly enough, but he'd take what he could get.

"Is Enzo gonna stay too?" asked Jojo as she lay down on her side.

"Yeah he is sweetie."

"Good," she grinned with a yawn, "I like him."

"I like him too Jojo," smiled Roman.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah, sweetheart?"

"Is Enzo you boyfriend like Dean?"

Roman widened his eyes and chuckled at his daughter, "No Jojo, Enzo's just my friend."

"Then can he be _my_ boyfriend?"

Roman couldn't help his chuckle again, "Your're gonna have to ask him, baby."

"Okay," she yawned, "I will."

Roman smiled as he pulled the comforter all the way up. He lowered his head and kissed his daughter's forehead, she in turn kissed his cheek.

"Good night, baby girl," he whispered.

Jojo nodded, "g'night daddy."

Roman was opening the door when he heard the little voice call again.

"Daddy?"

Roman turned around, "Yeah Jojo?"

"Is Enzo gonna leave like Seth did?"

Roman sighed sadly at his daughters wide eyes. Sometimes he forgot that Seth had been Jojo's friend too. He smiled softly at her.

"I hope not sweetie," he said honestly.

Jojo nodded as she closed her eyes, "Me too."

:::

 **Hello again :)**

 **Quick A/N: I know that Roman's wife and daughter are called Galina and Joelle, not Gina and Joanne, but I feel weird using their real names so I won't.**

 **Okay, buh bye.**

 **-Leeh**


	7. Broken Down

There were very few wake up calls that Roman welcomed. One of them was waking up to find Dean sitting on his stomach and just looking at him. Dean liked to do that.

It was weird.

But after all their years together, Roman had grown to find it quite endearing.

The other, and definitely his favourite, was waking up to his baby girl poking at his face. She liked to do that.

It was weird.

But it woke Roman up with a smile every time.

Jojo's little fingers were sharp as they poked Roman's cheek and his nose and his eyelids, accompanied by her singing, 'beep-boop-boop-beep-beep-boop'. Roman opened his eyes just in time for a finger to catch him right in the eyeball. Jojo gasped as Roman cried out and rubbed his watering eye. Instead of apologising, she huffed.

"Why did you open your eyes daddy? Now you got yourself poked."

Roman blinked his watery eyes at her and sighed with a smile.

"My bad sweetheart."

"It's okay," she patted his hair.

"You're all dressed up," he yawned as his sight cleared up.

"I'm going to my summer camp, remember? Except it's not even a real camp because we don't even get to sleep over, remember?"

Roman nodded and started to get up, "Alright baby, I'll drop you off."

"No no," she pushed him back down, "No no. You go to sleep so you can see me do my recital later."

"Yeah?"

"Uh huh," she nodded and patted his cheek before kissing it, "'Sides, Enzo's dropping me off." She said, before climbing over Roman to reach Dean so she could kiss his cheek as well. She jumped off the bed and picked up her backpack by the door.

"Bye bye," she waved, skipping out of the room.

Dean only stirred once she was out, "Huh? Wha's that?"

"Jojo was saying bye," said Roman as he lay his head back down.

"What for?" Dean yawned.

"The summer camp that's not really a camp. Enzo's driving her."

"'Kay," mumbled Dean, readying himself to go back to sleep. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open.

"Roman."

"Huh." Came the mumbled reply.

"Did… did you say Enzo's driving her?"

"Uh huh."

Dean sat up, blinking slowly, " _Enzo's_ driving her?"

"Yeah. Why are-" Roman froze as he realised. He shot up and looked at Dean, who was staring at him with wide eyes.

"Enzo's driving her," he said horrified.

Without another word, the two leapt out of bed and ran. Dean was by the door when he groaned, "Goddammit Roman, put some pants on!"

:::

"Alright, you ready?" asked Enzo, turning to the backseat.

"Ready," grinned Jojo as she sat with her belt buckled. Enzo nodded and turned back to the front. He had just turned the key in the ignition when he saw the front doors of the house fly open.

Enzo sighed when he saw Roman and Dean come running out, both dressed only in sweatpants.

"Dammit," sighed Enzo, "Busted."

Jojo gasped, "You said a bad word Enzo!"

"Shit, sorry," he winced.

"You said a even badder word Enzo!"

Enzo clamped his lips shut before he could make it worse. He pulled out his wallet and turned to Jojo.

"Twenty bucks and you don't tell your parents."

Jojo took the money with a grin and zipped her lips. When Enzo turned back to the front, there were two faces glaring at him from the window, breathing quite heavily.

"Are you in trouble Enzo?" whispered Jojo.

"Oh yeah, definitely,"

Enzo cleared his throat before rolling the window down, "Good morning," he said politely .

"Enzo," said Roman through gritted teeth.

"I was… I was just warming it up for you," he said with a too wide grin.

"Get out. Of the car."

Enzo sighed and opened the door, slipping out slowly.

"I thought we agreed that you wouldn't drive," glared Dean, "Ever. At all."

"I think that was a bit of an overreaction," shrugged Enzo.

"Dude-"

"Hey!" Dean was interrupted, and they all turned to see Gina coming out of the house, "How about we don't all stand outside the house naked, yeah?"

"Come on, we're totally wearing pants this time," said Roman.

Gina rolled her eyes, "What the hell is going on out here?"

"Enzo was trying to drive Jojo to camp!" yelled Dean, sounding a lot like he was tattling.

Gina just raised her eyebrow.

"Enzo can't drive." Explained Roman, "His license was suspended by the court."

"It was just a minor misunderstanding," exclaimed Enzo.

Gina just sighed, "You know what, I' not even surprised." She turned to the car, "And Jojo doesn't need to be dropped off anyway. We carpool with the Carson's."

"But Mama!" pouted Jojo, her head out of the car window, "I don't wanna carpool with the Carson's. Molly hates me!"

"Yeah well, you burned her hair off baby, what did you expect?"

"But that wasn't even my fault!" she threw her hands up.

Gina sighed, "Okay baby." There was a sudden honk down the driveway, and a minivan pulled up.

"There they are now, go on honey."

Jojo sighed loudly as she got out of the car.

"Bye," she waved at everyone as she made her way down the long driveway, "Thanks for the money Enzo! I promise I won't tell!"

Once she was gone, they all turned to Enzo, "Why'd you give her money?" asked Gina with narrowed eyes.

Enzo blinked as he tried to think up a good lie.

He couldn't.

"Uh, who wants waffles? I… I made waffles."

:::

Once inside the house, they all gravitated towards the kitchen. Roman and Dean were too awake now to go back to sleep anyway.

"It's too early to be up," grumbled Dean, "How do they expect kids to function when they're up so early? It's not natural," He glared at Enzo when he saw that he didn't look the least bit tired, "Why were you up so early anyway?"

"I'm a morning person," Enzo shrugged, hoping that they didn't catch the lie in his voice, or see the bags under his eyes.

"It's not even 8 am," groaned Dean as he drowned his waffles in syrup, "What the hell kinda summer camp starts at 8 am?"

"It's not a camp," scoffed Gina, "It's summer school."

"Summer school?" frowned Roman, "For six year olds?"

"For very… special six year olds," she shrugged, "We tell the kids it's a camp to make them feel better."

"And they believe you?" asked Enzo.

"They're six year old who have to go to summer camp," she sighed, "Of course they believe us."

"No," Roman shook his head, "I mean… we all know Jojo ain't the smartest kid in the world, but… summer school?"

Gina sighed and went over to the middle drawer in the kitchen. She pulled out a piece of paper and slid it over to Roman.

"That's her latest spelling test."

Roman's eyes widened as he looked over the piece of paper, "Oh."

"Yeah."

"Come on, it can't be that bad." Said Dean.

Gina looked at him with tired eyes, "She spelt every word wrong except one."

Dean blinked, "Well… well she got one right. That's not so bad."

"The word she got right is 'wrong'," said Gina blandly.

Enzo couldn't help his snort of laughter, which he quickly turned into a cough when he saw Gina's glare.

"I'm sure deep down," said Roman, "Way, way deep, she's a genius at something."

"You know, Ro," started Dean, "It's your fault for dropping her on the stairs when she was a baby."

Roman cleared his throat loudly and Gina's eyebrows rose, "What's that now?"

Dean winced as he realised that had slipped out, "Okay, in his defence," he tried, "The stairs wasn't even the worst time we dropped her."

Roman's head snapped to Dean in complete disbelief.

Dean squeezed his eyes shut, realising he'd just made it worse. The silence in the kitchen was deafening as Gina stared hard at Roman.

"Hey Enzo, wanna help me with that thing?"

"Definitely," nodded Enzo, and the two shot out of the kitchen as fast as possible, taking their plates with.

They had just managed to escape when they heard Gina's yell in the kitchen.

"YOU DROPPED MY BABY!"

:::

By the time Gina had tired herself out shouting at Roman, it was noon and time to go to Jojo's recital.

They all rode in Gina's silver beamer instead of Roman's truck, which she called a death trap.

Gina drove, but let Enzo sit in the front because she was still mad at Roman and Dean for dropping baby Jojo on multiple occasions.

Enzo couldn't help his smug smile the entire ride to the school. There were already cars in the parking lot, but Gina drove around the back and parked in a private spot.

"I'm part of the PTA," she explained when Enzo raised his eyebrows, "And having Roman Reigns as my baby daddy means all the other moms like to suck up to me," She looked back at Roman with a glare, "See? At least there's one thing you're good for, Roman."

She got out of the car and Roman sighed, "I'm never gonna hear the end of this."

"Don't worry," Dean patted his shoulder, "You know she loves you deep down. Way, way deep."

Roman rolled his eyes and the three followed Gina out of the car and into the auditorium.

It took only about five minutes for the room to fill up. Gina spent most of those minutes telling the boys to shut up lest they draw attention to themselves. Although it didn't take long for people to notice that there were three WWE Superstars in the front row. Maybe that's why it was so full.

"I feel awkward," whispered Roman at all the stares.

"Well everyone knew you were gonna be here," shrugged Gina, "Jojo likes to boast," Gina let out a laugh, "And she especially loves telling people that Dean Ambrose is her daddy's boyfriend.

Their heads snapped to Gina, their eyes impossibly wide.

"She… she says what?' choked Dean. Gina and Enzo were trying not to laugh on the looks on their faces.

She shook her head, "Don't worry, nobody actually believes her. Now shush, they're about to start."

Music from The Nutcracker started to play softly over the speakers as the curtains on the stage slowly drew open.

The 'sugarplum princess' was an older girl in a pink and white tutu standing on her toes in the middle of the stage. She was surrounded by little 'fairies' with their heads looking down. At the very very back, was Jojo Reigns.

All the little girls stood quietly, waiting for their cue, but not Jojo. She lifted her head and searched the audience. When she spotted the four of them in the front row, she waved with a grin. In the wings, the schools ballet teacher threw her hands in the air in defeat.

When the cue for dancing came, all the little girls started a sequence of very cute looking moves. Obviously, putting Jojo in the back had been a strategic move on the part of the dance teacher. She looked perfectly happy dancing on the stage, a huge grin on her face the entire time, but Dean had been right. Jojo lacked any and all types of grace.

Jojo waved four more times during the recital, much to the agony of the woman in the wings. The smile that had been on Gina's face faded slowly throughout the performance and she spent the whole time wincing. Roman was gaping in fascination and disbelief. He had no idea a little girl could have less grace than a robot. Both Enzo and Dean were half convinced that she was doing this on purpose, because she didn't look the least bit sorry for accidentally tripping the line by pirouetting in the wrong direction. At that point the woman in the wings sat down on the floor and put her face in her hands.

Gina kept scolding the boys for laughing, but by the end of it, she too had her head in her hands and was trying not to laugh. Dean made no effort in hiding his laughter, he clapped every time Jojo tripped (causing her to giggle and wave at him) and sniggered into his hand when the final bow happened and Jojo was looking the wrong way.

The applause coming from the front row was deafening. The girls had obviously been told to stand quietly until everyone stopped clapping. Jojo had obviously missed the memo, because she jumped up and clapped along with the audience.

"I fucking love this little girl," Enzo shook is head as he wiped his eyes.

:::

"Did you see me? Did you see me?" Jojo jumped up and down as she ran towards the car. She jumped into Roman's arms grinning, "Was I good Daddy?'

Roman hesitated as he looked at her hopeful face, "You were unbelievable sweetheart."

"Damn straight," muttered Dean, receiving a hard nudge from Gina.

Jojo grinned giddily, "That's exactly what Miss Hattie said!"

"I'm sure she did," nodded Roman.

"Except Miss Karen said maybe I should try out for soccer," said Jojo, "Miss Karen is our ballet teacher. I think she really likes me 'cause every time after practice she wants to talk to Mama."

Gina's eyes widened, "Did she also ask to talk today?"

Jojo nodded, "Uh huh. She's on her way here now."

"Oh okay," Gina cleared her throat, "Alright everyone in the car, time to go."

"But Mama Miss Karen said-"

"I'll talk to her later, baby."

Dean couldn't help his grin, "Why don't you want to talk to Miss Karen about your daughters dancing Mama?"

"Get in the car Dean!" she shouted.

:::

The rest of the day was spent at home, mostly in the pool. Jojo swam with Enzo and Dean while Roman watched cautiously from the side, because he believed that if the good Lord wanted humans to be in water he would've given them gills. Jojo, however, swam like she was born to, hardly ever needing to hold onto the side or touch the floor of the pool. Roman watched the three with a smile. He could've done so for hours, but then Gina called him inside to help with dinner.

"They're gonna come out looking like prunes," she sighed at the sounds of laughter coming from outside.

Roman chuckled, "Yeah well, they're having fun."

Gina nodded, "She always has so much fun when you guys come."

"I wish we never had to go," he sighed.

Gina nodded, "Yeah me too."

Roman looked at her with high eyebrows, "What was that?"

"Nothing."

He grinned.

"Did you just admit to feeling something other than disdain for me and Dean?"

Gina rolled her eyes, "Finish with those carrots."

Roman still kept grinning, "We love you too Gina."

"Oh shut up, you're still annoying as all hell."

Roman shrugged, knowing it was true. They carried on with the cooking, Roman doing so under careful scrutiny because Gina apparently didn't trust him in the kitchen. Their conversation revolved around their daughter and Gina's work and the food they were cooking. Until Gina finally couldn't hold herself anymore.

"So what's the deal with Enzo?" she asked the question she's wanted to ask since they arrived.

"What do you mean?" asked Roman.

Gina sighed, "Well I've never seen him before. I've never heard you or Dean say a thing about him either."

"Yeah well, we weren't friends until very recently." He said, "He's been having a hard time,"

"Well what about his friends? What about that Cass guy?"

Roman's hand froze over the cheese he was grating at the mention of the name.

"What?" asked Gina, "I watch wrestling, Sometimes. I mean, I know the basics ."

"When was the last time you watched?"

Gina shrugged, "It's been a while."

Roman sighed, "That's why."

Gina looked at him questioningly, and Roman sighed, putting down the cheese. He turned to Gina and told her what had happened.

She shook her head when he finished, "You see, this is why I fucking hate your job."

She turned back to the chopping board, pulling out more onions, even though they had done enough already.

"What the hell is wrong with these people?" she said through gritted teeth as she chopped, "I mean, from what I've watched, this Cass looked like a decent guy. A _good_ guy even. Why the hell would he go and do something so cruel?"

Roman sighed and shrugged, "He wants the gold."

"Everyone wants the gold!" she snapped, "That don't mean everyone has to be backstabbing son of a bitch! Can't people just be nice?"

Roman didn't mention the fact that Gina herself was the meanest person he knew. It didn't seem like the right time, especially since she was holding that big knife.

Once the onion was well and truly mutilated, Gina put the knife down and sighed, "God. Poor Enzo."

"Yeah," sighed Roman.

"No wonder he doesn't sleep." She shook her head.

"Yeah," sighed Roman. He frowned, "Wait, what?"

Gina shrugged as she made to thrown out the ruined onions, "Well, you know he's not sleeping, right?"

Roman shook his head, "No, he is. He wasn't at first but… but he's fine now."

Gina looked at him with raised eyebrows, "Fine?" she scoffed, "You think he's fine? "

"Well, well yeah. He said so."

"And you believe him?" she shook her head in disappointment, "Roman, he's bullshitting the hell out of you. I woke up at five this morning and he was in the kitchen making his sixth batch of waffles, dressed in yesterday's clothes. His bed looked like it hadn't even been touched. He's got huge bags under his eyes… need I go on?"

Roman looked at her with wide eyes. How had he missed all of that?

"He said he was fine," he shook his head at himself.

"How long did it take you two to get over Seth?" sighed Gina. Roman just blinked at her, "Certainly more than three weeks," she shrugged.

Roman sat down with a heavy sigh. Gina rubbed his arm, "Listen, I know you're trying to help him, or whatever. You guys are great for doing that, but you gotta remember that Cass was his brother. His best friend. One does not simply get over one friend because he got new ones. Even great ones like you and Dean."

Roman sighed and then smiled at Gina gratefully. She nodded, "Now, go tell those kids to get out of the water already. Food's almost done."

:::

Roman tried to enjoy dinner like normal, but after everything Gina had said, he found it kinda hard. His eyes kept wandering to Enzo, wondering why he was so good at pretending to be okay. He was sitting next to Jojo, both of them talking a mile a minute, the conversation changing topics once every fifteen seconds. It looked like Jojo had finally found someone who could keep up with her energy, and the thought made Roman smile He couldn't help but think back to what she had said yesterday.

 _Is Enzo gonna leave like Seth did?_

Roman had said that he hoped he didn't. And he had meant it. He and Dean had gotten so used to having Enzo around, which was weird considering he'd only been around for a few weeks. And then there was the issue of _why_ he was around in the first place. Gina was right, having Dean and Roman with him wasn't going to cover up the fact that Cass had been his best friend and now he was gone. Roman knew that he and Dean weren't trying to replace Cassady, but now he found himself wondering if that's what Enzo was trying to do. Something told Roman that Enzo wasn't the type to do that, but still, what if he was?

Roman sighed inwardly, now wondering if that was such a bad thing. Maybe they _could_ be Cassady replacements if it made Enzo feel better. But the dude wasn't sleeping, obviously it _wasn't_ making him feel better at all.

Roman sighed again. He'd been sighing a lot, he noticed. This was stressing him out. A lot.

Fucking Cassady. Why the hell did he have to do that? Why the hell did he have to hurt Enzo like that? Roman glanced up at the little man again. This time he was letting Jojo sneak her carrots onto his plate, and distracting Gina so she wouldn't notice.

Roman sighed again. Why the hell would anyone want to hurt this guy?

After dinner, Dean was sent to the kitchen to do the dishes, much to Roman's smugness. And then Jojo called everyone to watch Frozen again, so Roman decided that he'd rather help Dean with the dishes.

They were busy loading the dishwasher and listening to Jojo and Enzo singing something about building snowmen. Badly.

"You know he ain't been sleeping," sighed Roman.

Dean stopped and looked up at him, "Enzo?"

Roman nodded, "Gina said he was up all night. Didn't even go to bed."

Dean stood up slowly, his shoulders slumping, "Damn."

"Yeah."

He sighed, "I guess we were dumb to think he's okay now, huh."

They sat at the kitchen table with their chins in their hands.

"You think he ever sleeps at all?" asked Dean.

Roman shrugged, "If he didn't, that would make sense. Maybe that's why he sleeps so much on the road, you know?"

Roman had been watching Enzo at dinner. He had noticed the bags under his eyes, and slapped himself for not seeing them sooner. He saw that his smiles didn't quite reach his eyes all the way. Now that he was properly looking, it was obvious that the man was not okay.

And how could he be? Gina had been right; it took a lot longer than three weeks to even think about getting over losing what Enzo had lost. And sure, he was mad. Of course he was mad. But that didn't mean he stopped caring.

Looking at Dean, Roman could tell that he was having the same thoughts.

"So what do we do?"

Dean sighed, "I thought I was supposed to ask you that."

Roman scoffed, "I don't know everything, Dean."

"Of course you do," Dean smiled fondly, "That's your thing. You always know."

Roman started to protest, but Dean stopped him.

"Do you remember how fucked up I was after Seth… you know, did what he did? You know I'd probably still be a mess if it weren't for you." He moved from his chair and went to stand behind Roman's. He wound his arms tightly around his shoulders, and Roman smiled gratefully, holding onto Dean's arms, "You're Superman, Roman. You save the day, that's what you do."

"You think way too much of me, you know that?"

Dean just smiled and kissed Roman on the corner of his mouth, "Actually, you don't think enough of yourself."

Roman turned his head to catch Dean's lips fully with his.

"Is this how washing the dishes happens nowadays?"

The two broke apart at Gina's voice from the kitchen door.

"We're taking a break," said Dean with a grin.

She just rolled her eyes with a smile, "I'm gonna call it a day. Make sure Jojo goes to bed straight after the movie? And I'm sure I don't have to tell you this, but try and get Enzo to sleep, okay? He looks awful."

Dean and Roman promised they would, and Gina bid them goodnight before making her way up the stairs.

:::

As promised, Jojo went to bed straight after Frozen. Luckily, re-enacting the whole movie had tired her out, so it only took her a half hour to sleep. Once Roman had kissed her goodnight for the seventh time, he met Dean outside her room.

"So how do we get him to sleep?" asked Dean.

Roman shrugged, "We could watch a really boring move. Like, I don't know, Twilight?"

Dean scoffed, "Yeah, but you know Enzo's a freak. He probably _likes_ Twilight."

They went downstairs discussing the best ways to induce drowsiness, but when they got to the living room, they found Enzo slumped on the couch, remote still in hand, and snoring softly.

"Well that was easy," grinned Dean.

Roman also sighed in relief. But he was still worried. They hadn't been upstairs for that long. He must've been really exhausted to fall asleep that fast. Roman grabbed one of the blankets in the downstairs cupboard and draped it softly over Enzo, careful not to wake him.

Dean and Roman sat on another couch, turning the TV to the lowest volume.

They were only halfway through their first episode of 'Game of Thrones' when Dean got bored of watching.

"Do you think Kurt will let me use a Kendo stick during my match on Monday?"

Roman snorted, "'Course not."

"You think I should use it anyway?"

"Will you listen to me if I tell you not to?"

Dean thought for a while, "Probably not."

Roman sighed with a smile, "Then go right ahead."

Dean grinned, lying down across Roman's lap, "You think bringing out the baseball bat will be pushing it?"

"Definitely," said Roman.

"What if I do it backstage?"

Roman couldn't help but smirk, "Beating up Cassandra backstage with a baseball bat? That sounds fun."

Dean chuckled softly. He opened his mouth, but before a word could come out, their eyes snapped to the couch when Enzo woke with a gasp, sitting up in shock.

His head snapped around, his big eyes wide as if trying to figure out where he was. When his eyes finally landed on Dean and Roman, his heavy breathing started to slow, and he blinked rapidly.

"Oh." He said breathily, "H-hi. Sorry I-" he cleared his throat, "Sorry."

Dean and Roman glanced at each other and then looked back at Enzo.

The man in question forced a smile onto his face as he cleared his throat again, his eyes still impossibly wide, "So, what are we watching?"

He tried to blink the sleep from his eyes as he stared at the TV, "Ha, I love this thing. That Cersei's a bitch."

His eyes stayed glued to the TV, and Roman and Dean's eyes stayed glued to him. When Enzo saw that they were looking at him, he gulped, "What?"

Dean tilted his head, "So, are we gonna ignore the fact that you just woke up from a nightmare?"

"Nightmare?" scoffed Enzo, "I wasn't having a nightmare." He was lying, obviously. And he knew that they knew that he was lying, but still. It was worth a shot.

"Enzo," started Roman.

"I'm fine." He said, he stood up abruptly, "Really, I am." Enzo rushed out oof the room, almost as if he was rrunning away. Roman and Dean glanced at each other before following. They found him in the kitchen pouring himself a glass of water.

When he saw them, he forced a tight smile, "Is, uh, is Jojo asleep?"

"Enzo" said Roman again.

Enzo just shook his head, "Let's not make this a big deal. Please. I mean, everybody has a bad dream once in a while."

"Yours aren't just once in a while though, are they," said Roman softly. Enzo opened his mouth, his first instinct was to lie, but the words 'I'm fine' didn't seem to want to come out. Not this time.

"Is that why you haven't been sleeping?" asked Dean.

Enzo bit the inside of his cheek, "I sleep," he said quietly. The looks on their faces made him sigh, "Sometimes."

Roman shook his head, "Enzo, you know you don't have to do that." He said, "Not with us."

"Yeah man." Agreed Dean, "Stop pretending you're okay."

"I'm not pretending," said Enzo. He stopped them when they looked like they were about to protest, "I'm not. Honestly." He sighed, leaning back on the couch, "Yeah, I'm not sleeping too good. But I never really did, you know. Sure it's gotten a little worse since… since Cass… you know." He cleared his throat, swallowing the sudden lump in his throat, "But like, I really am fine. Trust me, I've been through this enough to know how to get over it. Cass ain't the first person to throw me out like a stray dog, alright? I know how to get through this, I'm fine."

"Enzo-"

"Guys really, I'm good. You don't gotta-"

"We're here to talk. You know you can-"

"I'm fine."

"But Enzo-"

"I said I'm fine!" he snapped.

His outburst seemed to surprise him more than it did the others, but once he started, he found himself unable to stop, "I'm fine! So please stop doing that! Stop being so damn nice! Stop trying to help me, alright? _Please!_ I know what this is, okay? And I know how it ends. You might not see it this way right now because you're so damn nice, but trust me, I know how this goes."

Roman shook his head, walking further into the kitchen, "Enzo we aren't like Cass. We aren't."

"You are! Don't you get it? Cass was my best friend. My _only_ friend. For 5 damn years that man was all I had and then he decided that he'd had enough. I'm sorry, but I am so fucking tired of having friends who are just gonna decide that they've had enough eventually. Trust me, you're gonna decide too sooner or later. It always happens."

"Okay, stop that." Said Dean firmly, "We ain'tlike Cass. Do you have any idea how great it's been having you around Enzo? We-"

"Of course it's been great!" Enzo exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air, "I'm great to be around! Always making jokes and and making everyone laugh and being good old funny Enzo Amore. That's what I am. That's _all_ I am, and ya'll, like everybody else, are gonna realise that sooner or later. So please, just make it sooner, because I'm tired." his shoulders slumped and his head fell into his hands as he leaned against the kitchen sink, "I'm so fucking tired of being thrown away."

Enzo kept his head down when he was finished. He planned on staying that way until they left. He was tired of letting these guys see him cry all the time.

He didn't know why he'd said all that. He hadn't meant to. He really hadn't. Especially not to these guys. He was supposed to keep all of that bottled up, like he always did. Not to blurt it all out like he just did. Now he knew that however pathetic they already thought he was, it was doubled by now.

And he really had been enjoying his time with them. The huge pain in his chest that hadn't gone away since that night always felt just a little bit better when he was with them. He'd hoped to keep this feeling for as long as possible. At least as long as they decided to keep him around.

Well, it looked like he'd fucked this up as well.

Enzo squeezed his eyes shut as the tears forced their way out of his eyes.

He was really fucking tired of fucking crying.

The silence had been going on for far too long. Enzo hoped that that meant that they were gone.

No such luck.

"Enzo," he heard Roman's voice, a lot closer to him now.

Enzo shook his head, still not looking up.

"Could... could ya just go? I'll be fine."

There was a silence after that, and some shuffling feet. For a moment, Enzo thought that they left, and then all of a sudden, a pair of arms wound around him. He could tell it was Roman by the hair tickling his face.

Enzo tried to stand his ground. He tried to keep his cool and he tried to stay strong, he really, really did. But it didn't take long for him to let go. His body all but collapsed into Roman's chest. His shoulders shook, no matter how hard he tried to stop them. The tears he'd already been failing to keep at bay just came flooding out, and Roman's arms only tightened around him.

"We know you'll be fine," said Dean quietly, also sounding a lot closer, "but, you're not gonna have to do it alone this time."

"We're not just gonna ditch you Enzo." said Roman, "You're stuck with us, actually. Until you decide you don't wanna be. Which you can't, because now you've met Jojo and, well, who doesn't wanna be stuck with Jojo?"

Enzo couldn't help the chuckle that escaped amongst the silent sobs. The silence that followed lacked the tension the others had. This one didn't leave Enzo wondering if he was going to end up by himself again.

"You know Enzo." said Dean quietly, laying a hand on his shoulder, "It's true that you're ffunto have around. You're weird. And crazy and kooky and real funny, and a basic nut job. That's why everyone likes you so much. But that's not all you are. You're worth a whole lot more than you think, Enzo. And if Cass, or anyone else doesn't see that, then it's their problem. And their loss."

Enzo closed his eyes against Roman's chest.

It scared him when they said stuff like this. It scared him because no matter what they said, a huge part of him would always agree with what everyone else said about him. A huge part of him would always agree with what Cass said about him.

But what scared Enzo the most was the other part of him. The tiny, tiny part that believed Dean and Roman. And that tiny part was getting bigger the more he was with them. Dean and Roman were making him believe them.

"Thank you." he whispered. He wasn't sure if they could hear him or not, but he had to say it anyway.

"Thank you."

:::

 **Quick A.N: Hello everyone. Me again. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Sorry it took me a while to get it out, life has been holding me up. Anyway, tell me what you think please, your feedback makes my day.**

 **You know, if the feedback is good.**

 **But criticism also helps. Even though it makes me sad...**

 **Oky bye bye**

 **-Leeh**


	8. Broken Dreams

**Disclaimer: I do not own WWE or the people I'm writing about. If you wanna sue me, you can't because I literally have nothing.**

:::

Life had a way of really fucking with your head. Just ask Enzo Amore.

His whole life had been one big 'Wheel of Fortune', where he never really got the fortune. And if he did, it never lasted long.

Take family for example. Enzo was twelve when his mother died. He'd never had a father to speak of, so she had been all he had.

She'd been the one to braid his hair when he asked her to, and let him listen to Notorious B.I.G instead of Bon Jovi. She'd let him try on her leapord printed boots, and then she'd been the one to buy him his own pair when he asked for it. You know, minus the heels. When the other kids called him weird, she'd been the one to tell him that they were full of shit. When Enzo's first crush had been on a boy called Dylan, she had just giggled and helped him write a secret admirer note. And when he said he wanted to be a wrestler instead of a firefighter like the other boys, she saved up enough money to take him to shows.

That woman had loved the hell out of him.

But like he said, life was a bitch.

One moment he and his mother were on their way back from WrestleMania 14, and the next, a drunk driver took her away.

Enzo still remembered the last words she had said to him, later on in that hospital bed.

"I love you, baby." she had whispered, "Don't you ever change."

She had been his family, and then she died.

After that, Enzo had gone into the Foster system. Unfortunately for him, no family wanted to keep him for longer than a month. The money just wasn't worth the trouble this young man caused, apparently. Between his constant nightmares and larger than life personality, people just couldn't find it in them to like him. His social worker had all but begged Enzo to try and fit in, but he just plain refused.

He had made a promise that he would never change for anybody, and he wouldn't break it just so people could like him.

And then Enzo's social worker took him to a woman called Trudy Grey. An old woman who wanted a foster kid because she was lonely. After his mother, Enzo never thought he'd find anyone who'd take him as he was. But as it turned out, Trudy Grey didn't give a damn that he was obsessed with rap music and leapord print and Shawn Michaels. Or that he was just plain odd. She liked him. And Enzo liked her. And that was that.

And suddenly he had family again.

He still had dreams though, mostly about his mother. Sometimes they were good. She'd be there with him, and they were happy. Sometimes they were bad. Really bad. Sometimes, he watched his mother die over and over again. Or he got kicked out of home after home. Or he'd face hundreds of different people telling him to just go away, in unkinder words.

Unlike the others, Trudy didn't call him a freak for his nightmares. She'd just wake up in the middle of the night to give him a cup of tea and a hug.

Sixteen years later, Enzo called her Mama, and Trudy's place in New Jersey was still the place Enzo called home. He had long made peace with the fact that besides his mother, Trudy was the only person who'd take Enzo as he was.

And then he met Colin Cassady.

Colin fucking Cassady

He was the person Enzo grew to love and trust more than anything. The dude who had always had his back, even when he got himself into trouble, which was a lot. He was the person who promised that he'd always be there. And for years, he kept that promise.

But then the life thing happened. It came like a slap in the face.

One moment, he had a brother, and the next, he was back to nothing.

And then, out of nowhere, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns showed up. They stayed with him when he cried and they let him scream in tunnels and they brought him to their family and they let him yell at them and when he woke from a nightmare, they gave him a cup of tea and a hug.

And Enzo didn't know how to deal with it.

Surely he had been through enough to know that this couldn't last.

Despite everything they kept telling him, he had to try to remember the fact that they were far too good to be true.

Like right now.

It was three nights after he broke down in the kitchen, and here they were again. Again they had been at the TV late at night, again Enzo had drifted off on the couch, and again his subconscious jerked hm awake.

And again, Dean and Roman decided that they'd keep him company when he couldn't go back to sleep.

And now here Enzo was, under some shot of insanity, telling them his life story as if he hadn't worked most of his life keeping it a secret. And they weren't giving him that look of pity he so despised. They didn't tell him that he was too old to be having nightmares about his mother like he expected people to say. They didn't make him feel like a freak for having a fucked up past.

No, Dean and Roman just gave him a cup of tea and a hug. And they made him feel like he had a family again.

And it was too fucking good to be true.

But again, they were staying up with him, eating chips and watching a movie making him feel as if there was nothing weird about being up at 2 am, just because.

Enzo kept stealing glances at the two of them as they watched the movie. He found himself still daring to hope that maybe... just maybe... it was just true.

"Okay, see I don't get this," Dean shook his head, "I thought he was a vampire."

"He is." Said Enzo.

"But he's in the sun and he's not dying."

"He's sparkling Dean," said Roman, "That's his secret."

Dean frowned at the television, "That... that's not how it works."

"That's how it works in Forks, man," shrugged Enzo.

Dean just shook his head, "That ain't right."

"I think it's great actually."

"Yeah, you would," scoffed Dean. He shook his head at himself. This was his fault really. When Enzo wouldn't sleep after his nightmare, Dean had suggested watching a movie to help him along. He put on 'Twilight', hoping to induce drowsiness, but unfortunatley, Enzo had confessed that he absolutely _loved_ Twilight. So he watched attentively, and even Roman started getting into it. Dean, however, was still not getting it.

After what felt like ages of sneering at the TV, Dean sighed, "I'm gonna need a beer if I'm gonna get through anymore of this,"

"Shhh," Roman waved his hand at him, "Alice is having a vision."

Dean rolled his eyes and stood up, leaving these idiotic fan girls to their nonsensical movie.

Roman and Enzo just looked at each other and shook their heads after Dean. Some people just didn't appreciate good TV.

When Dean came back, he was holding something, but it wasn't a beer.

"Look who I found at the top of the stairs," he said softly.

Enzo and Roman looked away from the TV to see Dean with little Jojo in his arms.

"Hey baby girl," smiled Roman, "What are you doing awake?"

"I couldn't sleep," she said quietly as Dean sat down next to Roman.

"Why not sweetheart?"

She looked up at Roman with sad eyes, "It's Sunday," she sniffed, "which means you're going away again."

Roman felt his insides deflate as he looked at her little face. With a defeated sigh, Roman scooped Jojo up and hugged her close. She wrapped her arms around his neck, "Do you guys really have to go?" she sniffed.

"Oh Jojo," Dean rubbed her back, "don't do this to us kiddo."

"But I don't want you to go." She whimpered.

"Believe us baby, we don't wanna leave you either," said Roman, "But you know we gotta work."

"But you know the whole time we're gone, we just can't wait to see you again." said Dean.

Jojo nodded "I know. I am pretty great, huh."

Dean and Roman couldn't keep the small smiles off their faces, "oh, you're the greatest baby girl."

With another small smile, Jojo climbed off Roman's lap and squeezed herself in the small space between Dean and Roman.

She hooked her little arms around their much larger ones,"You're coming back soon, right?"

"We'll be back before you know it." Assured Dean.

"Are you gonna come back too, Enzo?"

Enzo had been watching the scene with a small smile on his face, and had stayed silent the entire time, not wanting to disturb their moment. So it came as a surprise when Jojo turned to him as well. And what was more, he didn't really know how to answer. Turns out he didn't have to.

"Of course he is," said Dean, "Enzo's always gonna be here from now on, Jojo."

"Really?" she grinned.

"You bet," said Roman.

The grin on Enzo's face after that was almost radiant . Dean and Roman couldn't help but smile back.

The four of them turned back to the TV and watched the rest of Twilight.

A few minutes in, Jojo frowned with her head tilted, "I don't get it. Why is he sparkly?"

Dean laughed out loud, "That's my girl."

After that, Dean and Jojo took great joy in pointing out all the things that didn't make sense in the movie, completely ruining it for Enzo and Roman.

The movie was almost over when there was the sound of a cleared throat behind them. They all turned and saw Gina glaring with her hands on her hips and her hair all up a knot.

"Am I the only one in this house," she said quietly, "who appreciates a good nights sleep?"

They all just blinked at her.

"Sorry," said Roman.

Gina rolled her eyes, "I get that all you boys are ugly as hell and you don't need your beauty sleep, but some of us do." She crossed her arms at Jojo, "Honey, what did I tell you about not sleeping?"

Jojo looked down, "That it causes wrinkles?"

"And why aren't we allowed to have wrinkles baby?"

Jojo sighed, "Because black don't crack?"

"That's right," she nodded. Jojo sighed again, long and dramatic, as the boys chuckled.

"Fiiiiine," she said, hopping off the couch. She stopped to kiss Dean and Roman on their cheeks, and then went over to Enzo's couch and grabbed his hand.

"Come on, it's your turn to tuck me in."

Enzo allowed himself to be dragged up off the couch and up the stairs.

"And get yourself to sleep while you're up there!" Gina yelled after him.

In her room, Jojo crawled into bed with a yawn and patted the covers for Enzo to sit, "I'm happy you're not gonna leave," she said, "Seth left and that made me sad. But daddy and Dean were even sadder," she yawned again, her eyes watering, "I don't like it when they're sad."

Enzo pulled the blankets up as Jojo lay down, "I know you don't kiddo."

She nodded sleepily, "When you come back, are you gonna bring Cass too?"

The small smile on Enzo's face slipped off as he looked at her hopeful face. He sighed softly, "No, Jojo. I won't be bringing Cass."

"How come?" she frowned, "he's your best friend forever right? Best friends forever are supposed to be... well... forever."

Enzo nodded, "You're right, they are. But me and Cass... well, we ain't best friends anymore." Enzo bit the inside of his cheek, realizing that this was really the first time saying it out loud.

"But why?" she frowned.

Again, Enzo found it hard to answer.

"Well Jojo, Cass... Cass just didn't wanna be best friends with me anymore."

Jojo sat up and crossed her arms, glaring. For a moment, she looked a lot like her mother, "But why?" she demanded.

Enzo shrugged a little, "I don't know kiddo. Guess he just didn't like me anymore."

Jojo just glared again, her nose scrunching up in what Enzo though might be anger, but was far too adorable to be.

"Well that's just mean!" She huffed, "That's... that... that's _mean_!"

Enzo smiled a little, "It's okay, Jojo."

"No it's not!" she cried.

"Shhhh," Enzo whispered, "You're mom's gonna come in and we'll get in trouble."

Even the threat of her mother didn't dull Jojo's anger, "But it's not fair."

"I know it ain't." Nodded Enzo.

Jojo sighed, dropping her arms as her shoulders slumped. She looked up at Enzo with big brown eyes.

"Don't worry, Enzo. I'll be your best friend if you want."

Enzo had no choice but to let out a tiny smile, "You will?"

Jojo nodded. She got out from under the covers, knelt in front of Enzo and hugged him tightly around his neck.

Enzo wrapped his own arms around her little body, smiling into her hair.

"I'm very good at being a best friend." she said, "And I promise I won't burn off your hair."

Enzo chuckled softly before kissing the side of her head, "Thanks Jojo."

:::

The three didn't leave the house until the early afternoon. None of them wanted to go, and were stalling for as long as possible, but RAW was in Orlando that week and it was going to be a long drive.

Once the car was eventually packed and ready to go, they finally had to say goodbye. Jojo gave them all a long hug and about eight kisses each. Even Gina hugged them goodbye.

"You be good for your mama, okay Jojo?" said Roman as he gave her one last hug.

"I'm always good daddy," she said, earning a scoff from her mother and a raised eyebrow from her father.

"Sometimes," she shrugged.

"And no more burning people's hair off,"

"But that wasn't even my fault!"

Roman chuckled and kissed her hair, "We'll be back soon baby girl okay?"

"Okay daddy."

"I love you."

"I love you too daddy," she sniffed.

After another last kiss, Roman finally put her down and went to the car where Dean and Enzo were waiting.

Jojo waved until the car disappeared off the driveway.

"I fucking hate leaving." Roman sighed as he drove.

"I know big guy," Dean squeezed his leg, "At least you didn't cry this time."

Roman rolled his eyes, "Shut up."

:::

Compared to the drive to Pensacola, the drive away was very quiet. Besides the soft sounds playing over the radio, and mocking each other's taste in music and the occasional sing along, there was barely any talking. Enzo was uncharacteristically quiet, And during a split second glance between them, Dean and Roman wondered if they should be worried. They decided not to say anything. Well, at least not yet.

They took the longer route to Orlando, because it had a tunnel and missing a tunnel was absolutely unacceptable. As usual, Roman stopped to let Dean and Enzo out before entering.

Once inside and hidden from the fading daylight, Roman listened and heard no yelling or shouting or singing. Just quiet. Tunnel rides were rarely quiet. He turned down the radio completely and let the silence take over.

In the back, Dean and Enzo stood with their elbows leaning on the roof of the car, just enjoying the feel of the cool wind on their faces.

"Hey Enzo."

"Yeah?"

"About what you told us last night, or this morning or whatever-"

"Dean you don't have to-"

"I know. I know, I just... I just want you to know that your mom would've been real proud of you."

Enzo turned his head to see Dean looking at him. He let out a small smile, "you think so?"

"I know it." he said. "You did everything she wanted, you know. I mean, I don't know what you were like as a kid, but I can tell that even after all the shit life gave you, you're still the little weirdo you've always been." He turned back to looking at the road, "takes a lot of balls to stay weird when people give you crap, Amore. Your mom knew that, and she knew that you'd stay as you are. And that's something to be proud about."

Enzo's smile didn't leave his face at Dean's words.

"Thanks man."

For the rest of the tunnel ride, they faced the wind in silence as it whipped around them.

:::

It was nighttime when they arrived in Orlando. Thankfully, there was no need for a hotel again because Enzo had a place here.

"So which way?" Roman asked him as they got into the city. When he didn't get an answer, he looked through the rear view mirror to find Enzo fast asleep. Roman found it hard to look away from the snoring man. These past nights had been tough, and Roman hadn't seen him look this relaxed.

Waking him up right now would be a damn crime. Roman drove slower than he usually did, avoiding any sharp turns and steering clear of any pot holes so as not to disturb Enzo.

"Hey, look in his pockets," Roman said to Dean, "maybe he's got his address in his wallet or something."

Dean turned so he was on his knees on the car seat, and as gently as possible, went through Enzo's pockets. Once it was retrieved, he turned back and sat down, flicking it open.

"Anything?"

"Hang on..." Dean said as he browsed through, "Okay yeah, there's an address here."

"How do we know it's his?"

"Cause this piece of paper looks like a copy and it says, 'have fake lisense delivered here'."

Roman snorted a laugh,"Yeah, that's him." He put the address in the GPS and Dean put the piece of paper back in the wallet. But he didn't stop looking through it.

"Whaaat are you doing?" frowned Roman.

"Just looking," shrugged Dean.

"No. No put it back, you can't look through his wallet."

"Chill, it's not like I'm gonna find something private or some-" Dean stopped talking and Roman sighed, knowing that he'd found something private.

"Dammit Dean, I told you."

Dean didn't answer as he looked down at whatever was in his hands.

Roman couldn't help but ask, "What is it?"

"Just... just pictures," he said softly.

Roman waited, "Pictures of..."

Dean didn't answer, just put one of them in front of his face. Roman kept one eye on the road and another on the photograph. It was of an old lady squinting at the camera, and Enzo grinning next to her.

"That must be Trudy Grey," smiled Roman.

Dean took the picture back and replaced it with another. This one was a lot older and very faded. It showed a young woman laughing out loud with a young boy looking adoringly up at her. The hair in cornrows and too baggy pants made it obvious that the little boy was Enzo. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the woman was his mother.

"Wow," is all Roman could say.

Den nodded at he took he photo back.

"Is that all?" asked Roman.

Dean sighed, "No, actually. There's one of him and Cass. But I don't really like looking at that one."

Roman nodded. He didn't really wanna see it either. Dean put all the pictures back where he found them and turned to put the wallet back in the sleeping Enzo's pocket. Suddenly he paused, and then sat back down. He pulled out his own wallet and pulled out the only photo in there. It was kinda worn out from being in there for so long, and from Dean looking at it all the time. It was a picture of Dean, Roman, Gina and Jojo. Dean had taken it last Christmas when Gina got him his first phone with a selfie cam. He had had it printed out and put it into his wallet, vowing to never take it out.

For the first time since that day, Dean took out the photo, and slid it into Enzo's wallet behind the ones with Trudy and his mother. He was tempted to throw the one with Cass out of the window, but he figured he had violated his privacy enough for one day.

Dean gently slid the wallet back into Enzo's pocket. He saw Roman smiling softly at him and Dean sighed,"Yeah yeah, I've gone soft. Sue me."

:::

Once they got to Enzo's apartment building, they rummaged through his pockets again and found a key with a room number on it. They still really didn't want him to wake up, hoping that maybe he could stay asleep until morning. It was pretty late after all.

After a lot of gentle lifting and pulling, Roman managed to get the unconsciousness man out of the car and in his arms without waking him up. It just showed how tired he really was. They opted to leave the bags in the car until morning, and Dean led the way into the building, holding just the key. The apartment building was oddly arranged, and naturally, Dean got them lost a few minutes in. Roman had to take the lead and hurriedly looked for apartment 17 E. He didn't wanna stay outside for too long lest people see them. And he couldn't really find a good explanation for why he was wondering the building he didn't live in, carrying an unconscious man and looking lost.

They finally found the apartment and they hurried in. It was unassuming on the outside, but once the lights were on, it was obvious that the place belonged to Enzo Amore. There was a lot of colour, a lot of animal prints, and a lot of random looking bits and pieces covering the place from the ceiling to the floor boards.

Roman had no time to properly look around though, Enzo was getting heavy. He might have been little compared to a lot of the people they knew, but still, two hundred and six pounds was no joke. There were three bedrooms in the apartment. Now Roman had no way of knowing for sure, but he was pretty confident that the room with the yellow walls and Zebra striped covers was Enzo's. Dean rolled back the covers and Roman lay Enzo down. It was amazing, he hadn't even stirred that whole way.

Once he was down, Dean and Roman left his room and shut the door. The other two rooms were not as... vibrant as Enzo's, but they could tell that one of them was well used. The closets were filled with someone's clothes. Very large clothes.

This room obviously belonged to Cass.

Dean suggested burning everything inside, but after some thought, Roman shot the idea down. They went to the other room, which looked barely used. They were too tired to do anything but strip off their clothes and get into bed.

"You think he'll sleep through the night this time?" asked Dean with a yawn.

"I hope so," sighed Roman. "It's obvious he's exhausted."

"Think he'll wake us up if he wakes up?"

"Nope." said Roman, "even though we told him to."

With a sigh, Dean rolled over and let his head fall on Roman's chest. A sudden idea came to Roman's head and made him smile.

"You know what we should do in the morning?"

"What?"

"We should make breakfast. He's always cooking for us, we should return the favor."

"Great idea Ro," said Dean, "You know, if either of us knew how to cook actual food."

"Can't be that hard," Roman scoffed, "Gina makes us help in the kitchen all the time."

"She makes us boil water nad chop vegetables. I don't think it counts."

"It'll be fine, you'll see." said Roman. He lifted Dean's chin a gave him a chase kiss on the lips, "Now go to sleep. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day."

:::

When Enzo woke up, he was slightly confused. He remembered drifting off in the car.. and now he was waking up in his apartment, and in his bed.

How did he keep going from a car to a bed without remembering it?

Enzo sat up yawning and saw that it was already morning. And there was also a weird smell coming from outside his door. And.. was that yelling?

Enzo got out of bed and padded out of the room in his socks. Oh yeah, that was definitely yelling, and that smell smelled like fire.

"Goddamit Roman turn it off!"

"Shut up I'm trying!"

"How did that even happen?"

"I don't know!" shrieked Roman.

Enzo turned the corner to the kitchen just in time to see Roman strip off his top and throw it at the burning pot on the stove. Instead of covering it like he intended, the shirt caught fire and fell onto the floor. The shriek from Roman was piercing.

"I told you this was a bad idea," said Dean with his hands on his head, wide eyed as he stared at the small fire starting on the floor, "Why the hell would you pour wine in a pot with oil? Have you never seen those cooking shows?"

"Would you stop pointing fingers and help me get this out!?"

"How?"

"Give me your shirt!"

Dean scoffed, "Yeah, 'cause that worked so well the last time?"

Watching th scene, Enzo knew that it was time to step in. His kitchen was a mess and Dean and Roman were freaking out and the fire alarm was seconds from being activated, so why the hell was he laughing? It was when the blazing shirt touched a dish towel on the floor that Enzo finally went to fetch the fire extinguisher from his room.

He ran back to the kitchen and found Dean and Roman still panicking but not doing anything productive. He pointed the extinguisher at the small fire and let rip. By the time Enzo extinguished the extinguisher, half the kitchen was covered in the white fluff. Including Dean and Roman.

Enzo burst out laughing.

"We... we made breakfast," tried Roman.

Enzo shook his head, still laughing, "Maybe we should just get some breakfast burritos."

:::

While Dean and Roman went to clean themselves up, Enzo went to fetch their stuff from the car. It took two trips by himself, most of the bags being his. it was only when everything was inside that Enzo saw the blinking red light from his answering machine.

He had two messages, both dating back a couple weeks. He opened the first one and smiled when he heard Mama's voice.

 _Hello? Enzo? En... my lord, is this the answering machine? Sweet Jesus_ _this new technology. Enzo, this is your Mama speaking. Are ya getting this kid? I've lost the number to your cellular phone so I have to use this godforsaken thing. Listen honey, I watched that last episode of that show you're on and I saw what that Colin did. I'm going to kill that boy, son, you mark my words. Jesus help me. Don't you worry son, I've already sent Colin's mother a very strong message on her voicing mail, and I let that boy have an earful himself. I know you won't get this for some time since you're always on the road like one of them hippies, but you call me when you do, you hear me? And when you finally come home one of these days Imma make you a strong cup 'a tea, alright? I love you sonny. ... now how does this thing know I'm done? Which button am I s'posed to-_

Enzo smiled as the message ended. He vowed to call Mama, but first he opened the second message. His eyebrows shot up when he heard the voice.

 _Enzo. Hey, it's Carmella here. I got a new phone and I didn't bother puttin' ya number in it. You know, cause you ditched me and stuff. Anyway, I just watched what happened on RAW with Cass. ... Just wanted to say sorry. We ain't spoken in a while, and I don't like ya much anymore, but still, just wanted ya to know that ya dint deserve what he did to you, Kay? Okay. I don't know when you're gonna get this, but when ya do, call me. If ya wanna talk or something._

Enzo stared at the machine in shock as Carmella left her new number and ended the message.

He smiled a little. Wow. After he'd been such a crap friend to her, she still gave a damn about him. He smiled wider as he typed her number in his phone.

"Looks like I still got a friend." He said quietly.

He heard a loud scoff behind him and turned, surprised to see the other two standing there.

"And what are we, chopped liver?" Dean crossed his arms, genuinely offended. Enzo opened his mouth to answer but Dean stopped him, "No no, I get it. The hot girl calls and you forget all about us. It's cool. No biggie." He stormed out with a huff, and Roman chuckled, shaking his head after him.

"Ignore him, he's being dramatic." He clapped his hands together, "So, how about those burritos?"

:::

They drove to hte nearest Taco Bell and ordered their food. The rest of their day was mostly spent cleaning the kitchen and working out at the nearby gym. Enzo first called Mama and then Carmella. Trudy spent most of the phone call telling Enzo about all the scolding messages she had left 'that stupid Neanderthal'. Some of the names she mentioned made Enzo wince, and wonder where a woman her age had learned such language.

When he called Carmella, he was surprised to realize how much he had missed talking to her. They talked for ages while he was supposed to be doing his weights.

When Enzo mentioned who he was travelling with, 'Mella was understandably surprised.

" _You're kidding! Ambrose and Reigns?"_

"Yeah," said Enzo.

" _Huh,_ " she answered, " _ain't it weird riding with them? You know, since they're fuck buddies and stuff."_

Enzo gaped, "How do you know about that? You're all the way on SmackDown!"

Carmella scoffed, " _honey, those two have been together since before you made the main roster. You tryna tell me you didn't know?"_

"Well..."

" _You poor little idiot. Next thing you're gonna tell me ya didn't know about Sasha and Bayley."_

"WHAT?"

On the other end of the line, Carmella just laughed, " _You poor little idiot."_

Enzo just shook his head. He couldn't even disagree with her.

:::

Later on, the three pulled up to the Arena. They were a little late because Roman had spent a good half hour trying to stop Dean from sneaking one of his duffel bags into the car. Enzo didn't know what was in it, but he thought he'd heard the words 'barbed wire' somewhere in there.

Oh well, must've heard wrong.

The show was just about to start when they finally arrived. Enzo split up with Dean and Roman to go to his own dressing room. Roman went to his dressing room, and since Dean didn't need to change, he said he'd meet them at the cafeteria.

Dean made his way through the arena, and after spending quite some time walking, he realised that he was a little lost. But he couldn't call Roman like he usually did because there was a camera man following him. These guys liked to film people walking, for some weird reason, but now Dean was just aimlessly walking around and hoping that one of these hallways led to the cafeteria because-

"AMBROSE!" Dean turned his head at the shout, just in time to see a hairy ape come thundering towards him, and the next moment, he was knocked against a wall and on the ground.

Dean groaned, holding his head. What the fuck was that?

He lifted his head and saw Braun Strowman looking ugly as ever and all up in his face.

"Tell your friend I'm not done with him." Stowman growled.

Dean snarled, his head throbbing, "I'm sorry, who?" he asked.

"You know exactly who I'm talking about Ambrose!"

Dean sat up wincing, "Nope. No idea."

Dean knew that provoking the mammoth of a man wasn't a smart decision, but Dean Ambrose was not really known for making smart decisions. He paid for it though when Strowman lifted him up by the throat and slammed him into the wall again.

"Tell Roman Reigns to stop hiding and face me like a man. Unlike what he did to me last week."

Dean couldn't help his smirk, "You mean when he ran you into a truck? Yea that was- Ah!"

Dean didn't get to finish his sentence as Strowman slammed his head against the wall again.

Ow.

"Get me Reigns," he snarled, before letting Dean drop to the ground.

As he turned down a far of hallway, Dean wondered if that was the way to the cafeteria.

::

Kurt Angle was in his office on his phone. There was a camera guy in there so Kurt was pretending to do something important, but really he was trying to beat his Tetris high score. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and it banged open before he could even call them in.

"Dean," Kurt put his phone down when he saw the angry man at his door, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"To what do you owe the pleasure?" Dean scoffed, "Did you see what that ape did to me earlier?"

"Actually I did." he said, "And I gotta say I was expecting you a lot earlier."

"Well I couldn't find your stupid office!" yelled Dean, "Now I don't appreciate being randomly attacked. But I love me a good fight. So I've decided that I want Braun Strowman. Tonight."

Kurt raised his eyebrows, "Dean. You already have a match tonight. With Big Cass."

"Who says I can't have two matches?"

"Me. _I_ say you can't have two matches."

Dean snarled down at Angle, "Well fine! Just one match then. Me against them."

Kurt blinked, "what?"

Dean grinned, getting excited now, "Yeah! It's been a while since I've had a good handicap match."

Kurt just looked at Dean. He knew that this guy liked a challenge, but this?

"You... you want a handicap match with Braun Strowman _and_ Big Cass?"

"Hell yeah!" grinned Dean.

Kurt tilted his head, wondering why he was even considering this. He didn't have time to answer though, because there was another interruption at the door. Kurt wasn't surprised to see that it was none other than Roman Reigns.

Dean grinned, "Great Roman's here. Roman tell him to give me the match."

Roman looked at him like he was crazy. "No." he turned to Angle, "Unless of course, you make that handicap match a tag match. If it's me Strowman wants, it's me he's gonna get."

Kurt frowned, "Reigns, you already have a match tonight. With the Big Show."

"Then go ahead and add him into the mix," shrugged Roman, "The more the merrier, right Dean?"

Dean let out one of those manic laughs, "Oh hell yeah!"

Kurt sighed at them, "Alright then. You got it."

Dean laughed again, bouncing on his feet, "Good talk Kurt!" he grinned as he turned to leave. Roman followed after him, much more calmly than Dean. Once outside and away from the cameras and Kurt, Roman turned to Dean, holding his face in his hands.

"Are you okay? I couldn't find you and then I saw Strowman going after you and-"

"Roman, I'm fine," Dean rolled his eyes, "Now stop babying me and let's go find the cafeteria."

He started bounding off and Roman sighed after him with a smile, "That's the wrong way, Dean."

:::

They never did make it to the cafeteria, much to Dean's dismay. Roman dragged him to the makeshift gym to get pumped for their match. When they left to make their way to he gorilla, they were stopped by a camera guy, accompanied by Renee Young.

Roman couldn't keep the snarl off his face.

Ugh. Her.

Now, Roman Reigns was not a person of blind hatred, but damn, he did not like this woman. She knew very well that he and Dean were together, but that never stopped her from throwing herself at Dean every single week. Reallly, it was embarrassing. Dean of course, didn't see it. He mistook her shameless flirting for 'friendliness', and accused Roman of being 'uunnecessarily jealous', which, of course, he was not. He just knew a man stealer when he saw one, and Renee was exactly that.

Roman tried to swat away all bad thoughts about Renee Young out of his head, which wss pretty hard seeing as her stupid face was right there. But still, he had to concentrate on whatever she was asking them. Luckily, Dean did the answering, seeing that Roman was not paying attention.

"Of course we're ready for this," he said in his drawl, "we're always ready for a fight, and we always know how to bring the pain."

"Well I don't doubt that," smiled Renee. And... was that a wink? "but still, Big Cass, Braun Strowman, The Big Show. You're taking on the largest superstars in the roster, and it's just the two of you. Do you have a third member for your team?"

"We don't need a third member," Dean grinned, "We got this under control, baby. Just watch and see."

Roman snarled. Why the hell did he have to call her 'baby'? Why'd he always call people 'baby'? Like, could he not?

Before he knew it, Renee and the camera guy were gone, and Roman had spent too long stewing in his 'not jealousy'. By the self satisfied smile on Dean's face, he knew exactly what was on Roman's mind.

He hooked his arm around Roman's shoulder and pulled him towards the gorilla, "Come on baby, we got some ass to kick."

:::

By the time they were out by the ring, Roman was still pretty pissed, and Dean was still pretty hyped. The two faced off the three very big people across from them, Roman staring them down calmly, and Dean bouncing on the balls of his feet. Strowman was glaring holes into Roman's face, but Roman was kinda preoccupied.

He'd spent most of today talking about all the different ways to beat up Big Cass, but now he was right in front of him, and all the carefully thought out attack plans vanished. Instead, he just saw himself grinding that stupid face into the floor.

Jojo the ring announcer stepped into the ring and raised the mic to her lips. But before she could get a word out, the arena was filled with someone else's theme. Someone who wasn't in this match.

Dean and Roman's heads snapped to each other wide eyed, and then to the top of the ramp where Enzo Amore was dancing out.

"Oh hell no."

At the top of the ramp, Enzo grinned.

"MY NAME, IS ENZO, AMORE. AND I AM, A CERTIFIED G, AND A BONAFIED STUD, AND YOU CANT. TEACH. THAT!"

"What is he doing?" Roman sighed.

"BADABOOM! REALEST GUY IN THE ROOM. HOW YOU DOIN'?!"

"What the hell is he doing?"

Enzo did his dance and drank in the chants of the audience.

"Now I hate to interrupt what promises to be a brawl," he said, "But I gotta say, them numbers in there look a little uneven, you know what I'm saying?"

Roman turned to Dean with wide eyes, "What Is he doing?"

"And as we all know, I got me some unfinished business with a certain Casshole in there. So I had me a talk with the general manager. So Roman Reigns! Dean Ambrose! Say hello, to your third man!"

He dropped the mike and ran down the ramp, followed by the cheers of the crowd.

As soon as he got to their corner, Jojo started introducing the match, and Roman glared down at Enzo, "You go back up there right now."

Enzo just scoffed, "Yeah right. Now, can I go first?"

Dean scoffed, "You will go never! Just stay in the corner, Enzo. You're gonna get hurt."

He rolled his eyes, "I ain't a kid you can protect, a'ight? Trust me, I got this."

It was time to start, and the the two couldn't try to talk Enzo into leaving anymore. Big Cass started for the other team, and Enzo tried to step into the ring, but Roman beat him to it.

"Stay," he said lowly before turning to face Cassandra.

Enzo sighed and turned to Dean, "You guys are gonna tag me in right?"

"Hell no," he scoffed.

"But-"

"Enzo, Roman wouldn't even let _me_ face Strowman, you really think he's gonna let you in that ring?"

Enzo huffed as he leaned on the ropes. These guys wer crazy if they'd thought he was just going to watch.

In the ring, Roman and Cass were going back and forth for a while, until Roman gained the upper hand with a Samoan drop. The match was in his favour for a while, until Cass managed to tag in Strowman. As soon as he was inside, he bulldozed straight through Roman.

"Think he's still pissed about the ambulance?" winced Enzo.

"Maybe just a little."

Strowman worked Raman over for a while, even toppling them both over the top ropes. Roman managed to land a 'drive by' before rolling back into the ring. Dean was jumping up and down, his arm outstretched and begging for the tag, but before Roman could even get up, Cass was on him with an 'empire elbow.'

Outraged, Dean started to step into the ring, but somehow, Enzo beat him to it. He ran at Cass and put him down with a drop kick, unfortunately landing on Roman in the process.

"Sorry," he yelled as he got up. He turned back to Cass, who was already on his feet.

The two stared each other down before the ref made them go back to their corners. Roman was getting up and Strowman was half in the ring already. The two of them went at it again, exchanging grueling blows.

On the apron, Dean was almost frothing at the mouth wanting to get in on this fight. Eventually, Roman got close enough to their corner for Dean to tag himself in and start working over Braun. He managed to get the man down to one knee, and then Dean ran to the opposite corner, jumping up and knocking down Cass. After all, he was the real reason for this match in the first place. Forgetting about Strowman, Dean went for a suicide dive on Cass, only to be caught mid air. Cass was about to slam Dean down but turned into a Superman punch instead.

The match eventually went back into the ring with Dean and Strowman still being the legal men. That didn't quite sit well with Roman and he kept trying to get Dean to let him tag in. Unsurprisingly, he was ignored, and eventually, Roman couldn't help but get involved.

The match was an all out brawl, both inside and outside the ring, with Enzo being mostly left out of it, much to his irritation. The Big Show just watched from his corner, barely interested. It was obvious that he didn't much care for his partners anyway, and he had no beef with their opponents, so he didn't even try to get tagged in. Every time Enzo tried to get involved, Dean or Roman stepped in the way, mostly taking unnecessary hits in the process.

The two were insufferably protective, of each other and of Enzo, and it was keeping them distracted. Enzo was starting to see why they didn't team together anymore, and why they didn't want him in this match.

However, despite their best efforts, Enzo somehow managed to finally get himself tagged into the match, just as Cass got in on the other side. Dean, Roman and Braun were all in various positions on the floor outside the ring, and even The Big Show had gotten caught in the crossfires and was sitting with a hurt knee.

It was just Enzo and Cass.

Enzo cracked his neck and his fists, and with the crowd behind him, he charged for the Casshole.

Their battle was not unlike the one at Great Balls of Fire. Enzo held his own, but Cass was too much to swallow.

Roman was the first to make it to his feet outside the ring, and when he saw what was happening in the ring, he made a beeline for the ropes, only to be bulldozed into the steel pole by Strowman. When Dean got up, his eyes flashed from Roman to Enzo and almost whimpered when he saw both their situations. He had a choice of jumping into the ringing or running to the steel steps.

He did neither. Instead, he dove under the ring. After a few seconds of rummaging, Dean finally came out with the longest stick he could find. First he struck it into Strowmans back, causing him to cry out and drop the steps he was about to slam onto Roman. And then Dean rolled into the ring and got Cass right in the chest just before now he could drop an elbow on Enzo.

Dean had a whole lot of fun going back and forth from Strowman to Cass while Roman and Enzo recovered, but eventually, he fell to Cass's big boot. Damn, that really did hurt. Dean rolled out of the ring, dropping his stick in the process. Outside, Roman had finally gained the upper hand on Braun and the two were somewhere over the barricade.

And then it was just Enzo and Cass in the ring. Again.

When Dean got up again, he saw that Roman was starting to climb back over the barricade, and Enzo was still in there with Cass.

This is kinda what they had been avoiding.

But Enzo did seem to be holding his own, His fast jabs were at least slowing Cass down and it was obvious that he was enjoying himself. Just as well, because both Dean and Roman were exhausted. Too tired to actually go back to their corner, they just lay there a bit, but then Cass got the upper hand again. He pushed Enzo against the ropes and ran to the other side himself. He was readying himself for the big boot to end the match. Dean scrambled up and ran to Enzo's side. He grabbed his foot under the bottom rope and pulled him out of harms way just as Cass lifted his foot. When he saw that Enzo was no longer standing, he snarled and turned around, only to walk right into a devastating spear. Seeing an opening, Dean climbed into the ring and dragged Enzo's limp body on top of Cass's, and fell back in relief when he heard that One Two Three.

Enzo's music rang through the arena, accompanied by the roars of the crowd. The man himself hadn't even lifted his head.

"And your winners! The team of Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Enzo Aaaamoreee!"

Both breathing heavily on the floor, Dean and Roman looked at each other, their eyes checking each other over to see if they were good. When they saw that they were both fine, they turned to Enzo, who was starting to stir. When he recognized his music, he blinked,

"We won?"

"Course we won," said Dean.

With a grin, Enzo sprang up off of Cass, staggering as he made it to his feet. He laughed out loud, lifting his arms to the fans, "Hell yeah, we won!"

The referee lifted his arm as the music rang out. Roman and Dean should have been up there too, but neither of them felt much like getting up at the moment. Besides, they were completely fine with watching Enzo enjoy the moment.

He looked so happy, in his own bug eyed, jittery kinda way. No one had seen Enzo look like that for a while now. Dean and Roman glanced at each other smiling. Exhausted as they were, they both knew that it was worth it. If only to see Enzo that happy again.

:::

 **Quick A/N: Hello again. Leeh here.**

 **Sorry for that long match. I know lots of people don't like reading matches, but oh well. I make up a lot of matches in my mind so I kinda had to put it in.**

 **Some people make up lovely scenarios before they go to sleep, I think up wrestling matches that will never actually happen.**

 **But that's not weird. It's not just me. Right?**

 **Anyway, hope you liked the chapter.**

 **Reviews are like, my favorite thing ever. Just by the way.**

 **:)**

 **Okay, bye bye.**


	9. Broken Beats

Colin Cassady was not a happy man.

Nope, not at all.

He was sitting in a single bed hotel in Orlando, and he was really damn pissed.

Nothing was going quite as it was supposed to. This whole thing hadn't turned out as he thought it would.

When he turned his back on Enzo, it had been glorious. Humiliating the little shit had made him feel on top of the world. Everything afterwards, however, hadn't been that great.

Cass wanted Enzo to suffer. He wanted payback for all the crap Cass had had to put up with all those years. He'd wanted to do it ages ago, but because Cass was such a good person, he'd stuck it out with Enzo. Because he felt sorry for him. He knew that without him, Enzo would be on his own, and after hearing that pathetic sob story of his, and being woken in the middle of many a night by those stupid dreams he always had, Cass was reluctant to ditch him.

Becuase he was such a good person.

But then he'd decided that enough was enough and he'd put his boot in that big ass mouth, and damn did it feel good.

But everything after that... well, it just wasn't going as Cass had planned.

Enzo was supposed to be sad and pitiful and pining for the friend he'd lost. He was supposed to be alone while Cass shot to the top of the WWE, just like he was supposed to.

But Enzo wasn't sad and pitiful and pining. And he definitely wasn't alone.

No, he'd just found himself some new lackeys in Ambrose and Reigns.

He was even traveling with them. He'd been staying at their places and riding in their car and by the sound of it, was having far too good of a time for Cass's liking.

And the worst part? Cass was fucking miserable. He kept trying to tell himself that he was having a great time finally being on his own, but who was he kidding? Traveling alone sucked.

He was in freaking Orlando, and he was stuck in a hotel room, when just a few minutes away, half his belongings were at Enzo's apartment. He had to eat takeout all the time because he didn't have Enzo's cooking anymore. And he had to spend hours alone in the car and all he had was Enzo's stupid albums that Cass's didn't even like.

And on top of that, everyone fucking hated him. With Enzo, people asked for their autographs everywhere they went, but now, he couldn't take two steps outside without being called a 'Casshole'. And Enzo's Foster mother had been blowing up his phone for weeks, leaving voicemails with language a woman her age had no right to have. Even Cass's own mother had taken Enzo's side instead of his. How was it that he'd finally gotten rid of Enzo, and he was still a damn thorn in his side? And losing tonight's match had just been more salt in his wounds.

Cass lay back on the hotel bed with a huff.

It wasn't fair. Here he was, bored and miserable, and Enzo was out there with Ambrose and Reigns.

Yeah, things definitely hadn't gone as planned. As he lay there moping with a huge scowl no his face, Cass found himself wondering what Enzo was doing, and damn, he hoped he was at least half as miserable as he was.

:::

"Okay one more shot and we can go." said Roman, "Just one, alright?"

Dean laughed out loud, "Roman we left the bar ages ago."

"What?" Roman frowned, "Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure," Dean slurred.

Roman looked around and sure enough, they were back in Enzo's apartment.

"Whoa." He shook his head, "How'd that happen?"

Enzo couldn't stop laughing at the confused look on Roman's face. He had learned early in the night that drunk Roman was absolutely hilarious.

After the show, Enzo had wanted to celebrate.

He was on top of the world. He had just had a damn good night at RAW and he wanted to celebrate.

At first, Roman had said no, because apparently Enzo was supposed to be 'resting' or whatever. Enzo had scoffed at that. Why the hell did he need to rest? He had won! He had pinned Big Cass and pulled a victory for their team.

Sure, there were parts of the match that Enzo didn't remember too well due to all the blows to his head. And yeah, he had spent most of the match either outside the ring or on his back. And okay, he had gotten pretty banged up. But none of that mattered, because in the end _he_ had been the one with his hand raised in the air while Cass lay at his feet.

Who cares if he was still a little dizzy and his head still kinda hurt, he wanted to celebrate dammit! Luckily, Dean had been on Enzo's side, and Roman couldn't compete with both of them, so he had reluctantly drove them all to Enzo's favourite bar.

A few beers and a lot of shots later, drunk-Roman emerged, and Enzo hadn't stopped laughing since.

After staying for a couple of hours at the bar, they had to call a cab to take them back to Enzo's place. Mainly because none of them were fit to drive, but also because no one could remember where they had left the car.

The drive in itself took a really long time because Dean had been the one to give the driver directions, so naturally they had gotten horribly lost. When they eventually made it, they were all still pretty tipsy. No longer full on drunk, but buzzed enough that the walk from the front door to the bedrooms was way too far, so they just ended up collapsing in various positions on the living room floor.

Only a few minutes in, Dean put his head up, "Who's up for a beer?"

Enzo laughed, "You've gotta be kidding."

"Nope."

"Then yeah I'll have one."

It took a while for Dean to will himself up, but he fnally managed to stand and go to the kitchen. He came back with a six pack that Enzo didn't even know he had. He threw them a can each, and despite their slightly blurry vision, both Roman as Enzo managed to catch.

"We should not be drinking," Roman shook his head as he fumbled with the can opener, "We should all just go to bed now."

"I think I'll just sleep here." said Enzo, grabbing a pillow from the nearby couch and putting it under his head. Roman did the same and lay down next to Enzo. He finally managed to open the can and brought it to his lips, but apparently he'd forgotten that he was on his back and he just dumped the contents onto his face.

He sat up spluttering, and Enzo sat up laughing. Still standing, Dean shook his head, "that's not how you drink beer, Ro," he sighed, "It goes in your mouth hole."

"I forgot," sighed Roman once he was done coughing.

"You know what we need?" Said Dean suddenly, "Lullabys. Enzo, your music sucks a lot, it'll probably put us right to sleep."

Enzo narrowed his eyes at him, thinking up a good comeback.

" _You_ suck." he finally managed.

Dean went over to a cabinet where he saw a whole lot of CD's. He was surprised to find that it wasn't just rap albums like he thought it would be.

"Dude, looks like you almost have taste."

"I got tons of taste!" scoffed Enzo. He made his way over to the CD's and pulled one out from the very back, "Here put this one in."

Enzo went back to where Roman sat, now drinking the rest of his beer like a normal person. Dean frowned as he looked at the back of the CD case, "There's hardly anything here from this century." he said with raised eyebrows.

"Well most stuff from this century sucks," shrugged Enzo.

"Yeah that's true." nodded Dean. "Well look at you, actually having a valid opinion about music." he shook his head, looking way too surprised for Enzo's liking.

"You know," piped in Roman, feeling left out, "I too like listening to old timey songs. So my music opinions are also very valid."

Dean scoffed, "Mariah Carey doesn't count."

"I wasn't even talking about Mariah," said Roman, sticking his chin up.

"Neither does lil Mario,"

Roman's shoulders slumped, "Oh."

Dean laughed as he put the CD inside the player and then went back to the spot on the floor with the remote and the CD cover.

The first song was by Tupac. And so were the next five. Enzo sang a along expertly, and Dean and Roman... well, they didn't hate it as much as they thought they would. In fact, after the third song, they started to actually like it, although neither of them were going to admit it.

The three of them sat there on the couch throw pillows. Just sitting and listening to some good music was a good way to end what had already been a pretty great day. It was nice to just sit calmly and let the music lull them to sleep.

Suddenly, a beat started over the stereo and Enzo jumped up with a gasp, "I love this song!"

Dean and Roman gaped at him. Dean had already raised the remote to skip this song as soon as he recognized it.

"What?"

Enzo grinned, nodding rapidly as he started to sing along.

 _When I wake up_

 _Well I know I'm gonna be_

 _I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to you._

 _When I go out_

 _Yeah I know I'm gonna be_

 _I'm gonna be the man_

 _Who goes along with you._

"You like their song?" Dean gaped.

"Hell yeah!" grinned Enzo, "This right here is the most romantic song in the world!"

Even Roman shook his head, "I hope to God that's still the tequila talking."

"Oh come on, this song is great!"

"No it's not!" scoffed Dean.

"It's a terrible song," agreed Roman.

Enzo ignored them and stood up, turning up the volume, but still somehow managing to be louder than the stereo.

 _AND I WOULD WALK_

 _FIVE HUNDRED MILES_

 _AND I WOULD WALK_

 _FIVE HUNDRED MORE_

 _JUST TO BE THA MAN WHO WALKED_

 _A THOUSAND MILES_

 _TO FALL DOWN AT YOUR DOOR_

Dean shook his head, laughing, "Just as I was starting to respect your taste you go and do this."

Dean and Roman spent half of the song begging Enzo to stop, but his singing only got louder and his dancing only got worse. Eventually they had no choice but to endure his performance. Hell, they even started to enjoy it, and at some point, Roman even started to bounce up and down on the spot, which is what he passed off as dancing.

Once the song was done, Enzo grabbed himself another beer and threw himself back on his pillow.

"I swear if somebody were to sing me that song I'd marry them on the spot."

Roman looked at Dean, laughing. "And you thought he couldn't get any weirder."

The music played on as they sobered up, Enzo putting a 'no skipping' rule, because Dean wanted to skip every second song. Enzo wasn't having any of it. Until...

 _I'm, too sexy for my love_

 _Too sexy for my love_

 _Love's going to leave me._

"Okay this one we can skip," Said Enzo.

"No!" Yelled Roman, snatching the remote from his hand, "No way, this is my song!"

Enzo stared at him gaping. So did Dean.

"You're kidding." said Enzo.

"Please be kidding." Begged Dean.

Roman just grinned as the song played out. Roman sang along.

 _I'm too sexy for my shirt_

 _Too sexy for my shirt_

 _So sexy it hurts._

Dean and Enzo went from staring to Roman to staring at each other in disbelief.

"He's not kidding," Dean was horrified.

Roman sighed happily, "They played this song at my Senior Prom," he laughed, "And I think the punch was spiked 'cause I wasn't feeling like myself and halfway through I started stripping on the stage."

Dean gasped with wide eyes, "Why have I never heard this story before?"

"I forgot about it until now!"

"Well you know you have to reenact the night now." Said Dean.

"What? No I don't,"

"You do!"

"Okay." he grinned, obviously still drunk enough to listen.

Roman stood up, bobbing along to the song.

 _'Cause I'm a model_

 _You know what I mean_

 _I do my little walk on the catwalk_

 _On the catwalk_

 _on the catwalk yeah_

 _I shake my little tush_

 _On the catwalk_

The two watching on the floor were in hysterics. Roman must've still had tons of alcohol in his system, because there was no way sober Roman would be dancing like this. It only got better when he shakily climbed onto the coffee table and started taking his clothes off. Still laughing his ass off, Enzo pulled out his wallet and he and Dean started throwing singles at him.

Enzo couldn't quite believe what he was seeing, and he was sorrry that he hadn't pulled out his phone and started to record. Enzo always skipped this song when he played the CD, but he knew now that he'd probably be listening to it a whole lot since it would always remind him of Roman Reigns stripping while singing about being too sexy.

Well, it wasn't that unbelievable. Because Roman was very sexy.

Enzo's eyes widened at the thought. Why did he just think that? Well... it was okay right? Thinking Roman was sexy wasn't weird, it was just fact, right? Right. But still, Enzo probably shouldn't be thinking this when Roman's boyfriend was sitting right next to him.

Nah, it was no big deal, right? Yeah, it was fine to think that because Dean was also very sexy so...

Okay, no. Enzo stopped himself before he thought up anything else incredibly inappropriate. This train of thought had already gone too far, so Enzo pushed the thoughts away and went back to watching Roman finish his act.

 _Im_

 _Too sexy for my love_

 _Too sexy for my love_

 _Love's going to leave me_

 _And I'm_

 _Too sexy for this song._

The apartment filled with applause and wolf whistles as Roman got down from the coffee table. He looked a cross between quite pleased with himself and incredibly embarrassed.

"I should've just gone to bed," he sighed as he sat back down and the apartment filled with softer music.

"You gonna put your clothes back on?" snorted Enzo.

Roman seemed to think about it for a while, "Probably not, no."

Dean threw his head back laughing, "I can't believe you've both got such bad taste."

"My song is is amazing!" argued Enzo.

"Mine too," nodded Roman, "Mine's really great."

Dean just shook his head, "So this is what being the normal one feels like."

Roman rolled his eyes , "I'm sure you've got songs me and Enzo find stupid."

Dean scoffed, "no way." He pointed at Roman, "Your song is stupid," he pointed at Enzo, "Your song is lame," he pointed to himself, "my song is awesome."

Enzo shook his head, "Alright, here," he gave Dean the CD cover, "Pick one song from here and I guarantee we'll probably hate it."

Dean took the cover and the remote, "Challenge accepted Amore," he browsed the back of the case and then grinned.

"Oh yeah, this is a classic."

Roman and Enzo waited as Dean skipped to the omg, and then-

 _SomeBODY once told me_

 _The world is gonna roll me_

 _I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed_

 _She was looking kinda dumb_

 _with her finger and her thumb_

 _and the shape of an L_

 _on her forehead._

Enzo and Roman let out pained groans as Dean happily rocked out.

"Dude no!"

"This is the best song in the world!" Laughed Dean.

"It was actually voted the worst song in the world." Said Enzo, " Believe me it was. Don't look it up though."

Dean just ignored them and danced his way off the floor. His dancing was worse than Enzo and Roman put together. And they had still been quite drunk.

"You love this song deep down, you know you do!"

"I'm gonna have to say no." said Roman.

"You both better get the fuck up and dance!"

"I'm good here thanks," laughed Roman.

"Ro get up!"

"Okay," he said with a sigh. Enzo laughed at how quickly he gave in.

"You too Amore!" Dean said as he jumped around, "It's illegal to listen to Smashmouth and not dance. It's in the constitution. Don't look it up though."

Enzo would've been happy just watching the two of them look like idiots up there, but he couldn't say no.

Anyone watching the scene would wonder why three grown were dancing to Smashmouth, and also why one of them was half naked, but they really didn't care. Even Enzo and Roman forgot how much they didn't like the song as they danced to it. They just enjoyed the bad music as they danced the night away.

 _All that glitters is gold_

 _Only shooting stars_

 _Break the mo-old._

:::

Roman was the first to wake up. His eyes opened and he sat up with a groan. As he rubbed his eyes, he looked around him and frowned.

Okay... he had a few questions. Firstly, why was he sleeping on the floor? Secondly, why did his hair smell like beer? And lastly, and probably most importantly, why wasn't he wearing any clothes?

The splitting pain in his head told Roman that alcohol was probably the cause of this, but still... how drunk did they get? As he thought back hard, he remembered Enzo and Dean ganging up on him until he drove to a bar. And he remembered getting really drunk. And then he remembered sobering down and then coming home... only to get drunk again. And then he remembered music. Loud music. ... Bad music. And dancing. Lots of dancing.

Roman shook his head and let out a small smile. Wow. He must've been really drunk.

Dean and Enzo were lying on either side of him, both of them still completely knocked out. It looked like they would be dead to the world for quite some time. Roman stood up, and only then did he realize that his head was splitting. Damn... this is why he hardly ever got drunk. Hangovers were a bitch.

He staggered to the room he and Dean slept in and fumbled through his bag for Advil. After popping two pills, he went for a long cold shower. By the time he went back to the living room, Dean and Enzo were still snoring on the floor. He considered taking them to bed, but with the headache he had right now, he probably wouldn't make it. So he just found a small blanket and threw it over them. As he did, he saw his car keys lying near the coffee table. And then he remembered that he had no idea where his car was.

With a groan and a curse, Roman took the keys and looked at them for a long time. Great... now he had to go outside.

It didn't take long to hail a cab, and thankfully, Roman at least knew the name of the place they went to. The night before, they had looked for the car for at least a half hour before giving up and taking a cab. It was a good thing too, because non of them could've been okay to drive.

The bar was called 'Dario's' and was right next to a hotel. When the cab pulled up, Roman's truck was about 5 paces from the hotel enterance. It was impossible to miss.

Damn, they must've been _really_ drunk.

Roman paid the driver and tiredly made his way over to his car. He was about to open the door when he saw someone come out of the hotel. Roman's headache only increased when he saw who it was.

Roman would have liked to just ignore him, but the dude was hard to miss, and apparently so was Roman. Their eyes locked almost as soon as Cass was outside. Roman immediately saw that he didn't look good. In fact he looked pretty awful. Like, he was miserable.

Roman couldn't help the smirk that slid onto his face. He wasn't the type of person who took joy in people's pain. Unless that person was Colin Cassady obviously. No, he could suffer and Roman would watch it happily.

His reaction to Cass still surprised Roman. He wasn't usually this vindictive, but Cass... damn, every time he saw that bastard all he could think of was all those times Enzo cried or yelled or stayed up all night because of him. So yes, seeing Colin Cassady looking miserable was reason enough for Roman to smile.

His smirk must have been a little wider than he thought though, because the next thing he knew, Cass was stomping over to him.

"What are you lookin' at?"

Roman just shrugged, "Absolutley nothing." He turned to his truck and then stopped, "Actually," he said slowly, "you're looking pretty bad, man. You doing okay?"

The smirk in Roman's voice made it obvious that he didn't at all care about how Cass was doing. The glare on Cass's face showed that he knew it too.

"I mean, none of us like hotels," Roman continued, "And now here you are. In Orlando. And in a hotel. Must suck considering you have your own bed a couple minutes away from here. Well," he shrugged, "I guess I should say _had_. It's a nice room too. I think Dean and I are gonna move into it instead of the other guest room. Well you know, after we throw all your stuff out. You can fetch it at goodwill if you really want to. I'd invite you to come get your stuff, but you know, I don't want to. It would be too kind."

Cass's steely gaze only got harder with every word Roman spoke. Roman smirked.

"It really must suck, huh. Being all alone in a hotel knowing that the guy you tried to destroy is having a great time with some other people. You didn't think this through, did you Cass? Yeah, you were Enzo's only friend, but he was also yours. And now you're spending time in hotels by yourself. I mean, I'm just saying," he shrugged, "It must really suck."

Cass stared down, and Roman just smiled at him.

"You really think you're something, huh Reigns."

Roman shrugged, "I think I'm a lot of things actually."

"Is one of those things a smart ass?"

Roman chuckled.

"You can make all your jokes Roman." Cass shook his head, "You think you've won something because you're Enzo's new lackey? Well you can fucking keep him."

"That's funny, I don't remember asking you."

Cass scoffed, shaking his head, "You got some big talk there. But you know you and Ambrose are nothing but his new bodyguards."

"Oh you think so?"

"He's just using you to replace me." said Cass, "And sooner or later, you're gonna see what I saw and you're kick that little shit to the-"

"Don't you fucking dare." Any hint of the smile on Roman's face was gone, and he was trying hard to keep his sudden anger in check, "don't even think to put me and Dean in the same category as the likes of you. We're nothing like you."

"And what makes you so special huh?" Cass narrowed his eyes, "I'm sure Enzo's told you his little sob story by now. How nobody in the world wanted to keep poor little Enzo Amore?" He snorted, "You ever wonder why nobody in the world wants him? You ever wonder why everyone gets tired of him eventually?"

Roman was fuming. Every word coming out of Cass's mouth was making him want to tear a hole into his heart. It was taking all his self control to keep his hands to himself.

"Well it took me a while, but I finally figured it out, Reigns. And some day, so will you. And I can't fucking wait to see it."

Roman shook his head, his teeth gritted so tight it could be seen through this cheeks.

"And when it does happen." smirked Cass, "Who will poor little Enzo Amore have to run to next? You think he'll kill himself? Hell, he already tried and failed twice."

Roman felt his body freeze over. Whatdid he just say?

"Maybe being ditched by his last heroes is what'll finally do the trick." Cass smiled as leaned forward, getting all up in Roman's face, "I personally can't wait to find out. Can you?"

:::

When Dean's phone rang, he could've sworn a trumpet was being blown into his ear. He sat up with a gasp and his hands flew to his head, hoping to dull the splitting headache.

"Turn it of," Dean heard the begging whimper next to him. Enzo took the pillow he was lying on and pressed it over his head, falling right back to sleep. Dean would've done the same, but then the phone wouldn't stop ringing. He saw it flashing on the other side of the room and he have crawled half staggered over to it. He was prepared to just switch it off, but then they'd probably just call again so he might as well...

He took the phone and lay back down where he was.

"What?" he mumbled into the phone as he yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"Dean?"

Dean frowned, "Roman?" he looked around the living room to see that the spot where Roman had been sleeping was empty.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's me."

"Why... why aren't you here? Are you getting food? I'm kinda hungry."

"Uh, yeah I... I was going to, but I... Uh... could... Could you come pick me up?"

Dean frowned. Roman's voice sounded off. Way off. Something was wrong.

"Pick you up?"

"Uh huh."

"Where are you?"

"I'm... uh..." Dean waited as Roman said nothing.

"Roman. Come on baby, what's wrong? Where are you?"

There was a loud sigh on the other end of the line.

"I'm kinda like... in jail." He said the last word so quietly Dean wondered if he'd heard it right.

He sat up, "Come again?"

:::

Dean felt weird as he walked into the Orlando police station. It wasn't his first time he'd been in a police station. Far from it. Except all those other times, he would be the one in a cell with Roman coming to bail him out. This right now was way too 'freaky friday' for his liking, and was just plain weird.

Roman hadn't done much explaining over the phone. Or any explaining for that matter. He'd just told Dean where to find the car and then to come to the station with bail money. A part of Dean still thought Roman was playing some kind of prank on him, until he actually saw him being led out by a cop with his hands cuffed behind his back.

Dean stared at him with wide eyes. This was never a position he ever thought he'd see Roman in. He was so damn shocked he didn't even hear the policeman as he uncuffed Roman and then handed him over. Roman was the one to lead him out of the station and into the car. Dean stared at him even as he drove off, straight faced and jaw clenched.

Dean was starting to get worried.

"Okay, are you gonna tell me what happened?"

Roman stared straight ahead, but didn't answer.

"Roman?" Dean pressed.

Still he didnt say a thing. His hands were gripping the steering wheel and his foot was pressing too hard on the gas.

"Roman stop the car."

Still nothing.

"Roman," Dean leaned over an drew clutched a hand over his thigh, "Roman. Roman, baby, stop the car." He placed another hand over Roman's, "Come on baby. Stop."

Roman finally seemed to snap out of whatever trance he had been in. He looked at Dean and then back at the road.

"Ro, pull over."

Roman did so. It wasn't a busy road, so he had no problem stopping. Once the car stopped and Roman let go of the wheel, his hands were shaking. He clenched them into fists and closed his eyes, leaning forward until his head hit the wheel.

Dean waited silently. Knowing that he'd talk when he was ready. And he did. When he spoke, his voice was so quiet it was barely audible. But Dean heard him loud and clear.

"Enzo tried to kill himself _."_

Dean didn't say anything for a long time. He just stared at Roman and waited for him to take it back.

He didnt.

"I went to fetch the car." said Roman quietly, "Ran into Cass and... we got into it. Said some stuff. And then he... he told me that Enzo tried to... to kill himself. Twice." Roman shook his head, "He asked me if I thought he'd try again any time soon."

Dean still said nothing. The hand that had been on Roman's back slipped off. The two sat in silence in the truck. It could've been minutes or seconds, neither of them could be sure.

"Where's Cass now?" asked Dean, breaking the silence.

Roman shrugged, "I don't know. I... I kinda lost it. Some guys in the hotel saw me on top of him and pulled me off of him. That was just before the police arrived and arrested me for assault. Last I saw him he was on the ground."

Roman sighed as he finished, leaning back and hitting his head hard on the back of the seat. He swallowed hard, shaking his head. Dean leaned back as well, biting the inside of his cheek. Enzo had still been sleeping when he left to get Roman. Just laying there with the pillow half over his head, and snoring softly. Probably still was.

Dean closed his eyes, "Oh god," he whispered with a sigh.

"Yeah," sighed Roman.

Dean took Roman's shaking fist and squeezed it softly. Roman unclenched his hand and thread their fingers together. They sat there in silence again. Both lost in their own thought, but both thinking the same thing.

"He won't," said Dean after a while.

Roman looked at him questioningly.

"What Cass said," he gulped, "Enzo won't try again." said Dean. He turned his head and looked at Roman with strong determination, "We won't let him."


	10. Broken Ropes

When Enzo woke up, he was in his bed. How come he kept waking up in bed with no memory of actually getting up to go to said bed? Was he sleepwalking again? Well, wouldn't be the first time.

When Enzo lifted his head he saw by the sun out of his window that it was way into the afternoon. Damn, he had been sleeping for a while. Well, who could blame him after the night slash morning they had had. Enzo smiled as he remembered. Lots of beer and lots of music was a sure recipe for a good time, and last night had been no different. Yeah, he definitely remembered drinking and dancing. Lots of dancing.

And then Enzo's face flushed when he remembered Roman's dancing. And Roman's stripping. And he remembered thinking about how sexy Roman was.

... And then how sexy Dean was.

Enzo squeezed his eyes shut. Damn, he must've been really drunk. He thanked his drunk self for managing to keep those incredibly inappropriate thoughts in his mind. And besides it wasn't really his fault for thinking all that. Roman had been half naked on his coffee table for god sakes. And Dean had been sitting real close to Enzo and just looking all kinds of fine. It wasn't his fault dammit. And besides. when incredibly intoxicated, havnig innappropriate thoughts about your travel buddies who happened to be in a relationship with each other was totally understandable.

Right?

Enzo nodded to himself. Damn straight.

Enzo finally sat up on his bed, and was grateful to see a bottle of water and an Advil at his bedside table.

Damn, these guys were so nice and so sexy and...

No! They were nice. Just nice, and that's all.

Enzo downed the headache pill and hoped his stupid thoughts would go away from with it.

When Enzo left his room, he was surprised when he saw that the living room was almost sparkling clean, with no evidence of last night's madness. He heard voices coming from the kitchen and went towards them. Roman and Dean were sitting at the kitchen table looking really damn-

 _NO Enzo!_

As soon as he appeared in the doorway however, the murmurs stopped.

"Mornin' sleeping beauty," grinned Dean. For a second, Enzo wondered if his smile wasn't quite reaching his eyes, or if he was imagining it. He didn't have time to think about it because Roman was getting up.

"We got some breakfast when we were out. It ain't breakfast time anymore but you'll have to make do with a MacMuffin. Unless you want something else. We can get you something else if you want.

"Nah MacMuffin's great."

Roman guided Enzo to a seat at the kitchen table and set down breakfast burger on a plate in front of him. Dean fetched some orange juice from the fridge and poured Enzo a glass.

"You want ice?"

Enzo blinked. Okay, what was up with the five star treatment?

"Uh, no thanks,"

"You sure? Cause I could get you some."

"I'm... I'm good thanks."

Dean opened his mouth to make sure, but stopped when Roman slapped his arm. The two sat down at the table and watched Enzo as they waited for him to start eating.

Okay, Enzo was officially creeped out.

"Are you guys okay?" he asked slowly.

"What, us?" Dean scoffed, "Yeah we're good. We're great."

"Totally great," nodded Roman, "what... what about you? Are you good?"

"I'm great," nodded Enzo, frowning.

"Great." they said together with identical smiles.

Okay, this was weird, right? They were being weird.

"You gonna eat?" asked Dean, "You should eat. Eating is real good for you."

Enzo picked up the burger and took a bite, almost afraid of what would happen if he didn't. Dean and Roman just stared at him as he ate. After a few minutes, it was really uncomfortable.

"You sure you guys are okay?" Enzo asked again.

"We're great," grinned Dean.

"Totally great," nodded Roman, "How about you?"

Enzo blinked, "I'm great,"

"Great," they said together.

Okay yeah. This was definitely weird. And as the day went on, it only got weirder.

After having his breakfast slash lunch, which he had to force down because they were still watching him eat and it was creepy, he stood to put his plate away, but Dean basically pushed him down and beat him to it. After that he went to take a shower and Roman knocked a few times just to see if he was still good. And then later when it was time for dinner they didn't let him cook, they just ordered KFC and arranged it prettily on a plate, which was brought to him as he sat on the couch.

It was like they were trying to 'nice' him to death and he was seriously starting to get scared. When night came he bid them goodnight way too early and he sat on his bed hearing them walk around outside, occasionally stopping to see if he was okay. Enzo didn't reapond, pretending to be asleep. Eventually, they went to sleep too.

When morning came, Enzo dedided that it was best that they leave the house, because if he was offered one more cup of tea, he was going to lose it. When Enzo asked what they'd like to do, Dean and Roman spent quite some time telling him how they'd be happy to do whatever made Enzo happy. At that, he decided that he needed to punch something before he punched himself.

:::

It was early afternoon when they made it to the Performance Centre. They spent some time in the gym, Enzo and Dean mostly lifting weights and Roman mostly lifting Enzo and Dean. After a while of that, they went into the main romm of the Centre. It was more or less empty, only one of the practice rings occupied. Enzo smiled when he saw who was in it.

He walked over to the ring and hopped up onto the apron, "looking good ladies," he grinned.

The two bodies broke their lock and looked up.

"Enzo!" grinned Bayley, skipping over to him and giving him a hug over the top rope.

"Hey kid," he smiled into her hair.

"What's up Amore?" Sasha hugged him after Bayley, "Long time no see."

Enzo shrugged, "Too long. Chasing gold has got you girls pretty busy."

"The Number One Contender match is on Monday," said Bayley, jumping up and down, "We need to get ripped!"

Enzo laughed, "So you're here practicing?"

"All week long," nodded Sasha. Enzo tilted his head, "Wait, ain't you two going up against each other?"

"I know, it so exciting," grinned Bayley.

"Well how can you practice on each other when you're gonna be fighting each other? That's a surefire way to lose the element of surprise."

Sasha sighed, "Yeah I know, but you see any other sparing partners around here?"

Enzo scoffed, "Well what am I, a dummy?"

Bayley grinned, "You're right! Yeah, you stay here with Sasha, I'll ask Dean and Roman. I've always wanted a threesome with those two."

At Sasha's gasp, Bayley winced, "Did I say threesome? I meant... Triple Threat. You know, the match."

Sasha just glared at her and Bayley smiled sweetly.

"Okay have fun," she kissed her cheek before rolling out of the ring and going to the one Dean and Roman were in. Enzo laughed as Sasha shook her head after her.

"Well come on in and get your ass kicked kid," she smirked at him.

Enzo took off his shirt and climbed into the ring, "You know, I got a bone to pick with you," he said as they locked up.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah! How come I didn't know that you and Bayley are together until Carmella told me."

Shs scoffed, "Because you're a moron?"

Enzo sighed, "Why do people keep saying that?"

Sasha just laughed at him and he switched the hold so her back was against his front.

"Seriously though, I didn't even know that you played for both teams."

"I only play for one team Enzo." she grinned, spinning them around so his back was against her front."

Enzo frowned as he spinned around so that they locked arms again, "Hold up, no you don't."

"Yeah actually. I don't do dudes."

"You did me!" He said, "And last time I checked, I'm a total dude."

"That was last year," she chuckled, "And after you, I stopped doing dudes."

Enzo gasped, breaking the lock and staring down at her, "What?"

Sasha shrugged, "What?"

"I put you off of dudes?"

Sasha threw her head back laughing, "No that's not what I meant you idiot!"

Enzo didn't seem convinced so she went to him and held his face in her hands, "Enzo, you were a great fuck." she smiled, "You didn't put me off you just..." she thought about it for a while, "You were like my last hoorah. My last penis pal. My last dick kid. My last boy toy. My last cock kiss. My last-"

"Alright alright I get it," he grinned

Sasha laughed and pulled his face down to kiss his nose, "Now come on babe, are you gonna let me beat you up or what?"

For the next hour or so, Sasha did her best to work over Enzo, and she was doing a pretty good job. He was exhausted and sweaty and sore all over, and she looked mighty pride of herself. In the other ring, Bayley was having just as much fun with Roman while Dean sat on the ropes and pretended to ref.

When Sasha was about to perform her fourth Bank Statement on Enzo, they heard a loud scream from the other ring and both their heads snapped toward it. Roman was on the floor, Bayley down there with him with her legs wrapped round his back and bending his arms in ways arms should not bend.

"Okay you can stop now!" He yelled.

"Tap out!" she yelled back.

"No!" At that, Bayley pulled harder, eliciting another scream from Roman.

"Dean get her off me!"

"Sorry baby, you're gonna have to tap." shrugged Dean, "that's the rules."

"im not gonna tap!" Bayley pulled harder again, making Roman scream again.

"Why won't he just tap?" Sasha asked Enzo.

"He has a thing about losing."

Sasha laughed as she watched them, enjoying this almost as much as Bayley was. Taking pity on Roman, Sasha called over.

"Come on babe, let the big man go, you've humiliated him enough for today."

With a disappointed sigh, Bayley finally let go, and Roman groaned in relief, hugging his aching muscles to his chest.

"That was a good effort Reigns," she patted his cheek before rolling out of the ring and making her way over to Sasha and Enzo.

"Are you guys done?"

"Yes," Enzo answered quickly, "So done."

Sasha rolled her eyes, "Wimp."

"Great," Bayley hooked her arm through Enzo's, "I talked to Dean and Roman, and today, you're having a girls day with us."

"I am?"

"Yeah! You're gonna come home with us and we'll watch movies or whatever. Plus you can braid my hair. You know, you do it better than Sasha. She kinda sucks."

"Hey!"

"I'm sorry babe, it's true. You're a real disappointment to the black community." Sasha gasped and Bayley just smiled sweetly and kissed her cheek, "Come on Enzo." she pulled him from the ring, "I gotta tell you what my cat did to the bird next door, it's hilarious!"

She pulled him towards the shower areas chatting his ear off, leaving Sasha, Dean and Roman in their rings.

Still clutching his arms to his chest, Roman sighed, "She is a lot of work."

Sasha sighed with a smile, "Tell me about it."

:::

About an hour later and back in Enzo's apartment, Dean and Roman were in the kitchen flipping through takeout menus, trying to pick something that could pass as a home cooked meal for when Enzo got back from his day with the girls. With a loud sigh, Dean closed the last menu and pushed it away

"Dude I don't think this is working."

Roman frowned as he turned to Dean, "What?"

"This whole plan you came up with? Yeah, it's shit."

Roman put down the menu in his hand, "Excuse me?"

Dean sighed, "I was gonna tell you earlier, but I was hoping you were right, But you weren't right. This isn't working."

Roman crossed his arms with a glare, "Dean, we discussed this at length yesterday in the car. We agreed that-"

"Roman, we were in the car on the way from bailing you out of jail. We'd just found out that Enzo used to be suicidal and honestly, when you're that mad, I don't think ideas are always that great."

Roman gaped at him, "It's a good idea, Dean. It's working."

"Smothering him with kindness in the hopes that he doesn't try to kill himself? Come on Roman, that's the worst plan I've ever heard."

Roman glared, "We are not _smothering_ him."

"We're smothering the _hell_ out of him and it's starting to creep him out."

"No it's not," scoffed Roman, "Why would you think that?"

"He said so! Didn't you hear him when we were spotting him at the gym?"

"No, I was was busy tying his shoelace."

Dean threw his hands up, "You see! Do you hear yourself? It's creepy! We're being creepy. If I had to deal with us right now, _I'd_ be creeped the hell out. Why do you think he left with Sasha and Bayley? To get away from us creeps!"

Roman rolled his eyes, "No, he left with them so we could come here and have loud sex."

Dean blinked at him and Roman shrugged, "Bayley told me."

"Well then why aren't we doing that?"

"Because you're being an ass!"

"I'm being reasonable," huffed Dean.

"Since when are you the reasonable one?" Roman glared.

"Exactly! Do you see what you've driven me to with all your creepiness!"

"How is being nice the same as being creepy?" exclaimed Roman, "We're being _nice_!"

"Nice and creepy," muttered Dean.

Roman slammed his fist against the kitchen table, "Well what are we supposed to do, Dean? We can't just sit and hope that Enzo doesn't try to kill hinself again!"

"He won't." said Dean, "I know he won't."

"But Cass said-"

"Who cares what Cass said? The man's a fucking weed."

"He's a weed whose known Enzo for years longer than we have."

"For all we know, he was lying"

"He wasn't lying," Roman shook his head, "He meant what he said, I know he did."

Dean sighed, rubbing his hand over his face, "Well what exactly did he say,"

"I cant be sure, his mouth was too full of blood."

Dean just glared and Roman sighed, "He just said that he wondered if Enzo would try to kill himself, since he's already tried twice before."

"Well... well we don't even know how long ago that was." he said.

Roman scoffed, "Does it matter? Dean this is serious? Twice in his life, Enzo was so low that he attempted suicide. _Twice._ We have got to make sure that he never gets that low ever again."

"And you think the way to do that is to treat him like a kitten."

"We're not treating him like a kitten," Roman rolled his eyes, "that's not the plan."

"The plan is stupid," said Dean.

"Oh, so now you're saying I'm stupid."

"Well if this is your grand idea, then yes, Roman, that's what I'm saying."

Roman's teeth grit together, "Well what do you suppose we do, Dean?"

Dean sighed, "Nothing."

Roman raised his eyebrows, "Nothing."

Dean shrugged.

Roman scoffed, "You want us to just sit around and wait to see whether or not he tries to kill himself again."

Dean sighed, "I think he's fine, Roman. Honestly."

"Fine? You think he's _fine_?" Roman scoffed, "Dean, in the past weeks we've known Enzo, the only time he's slept more than a couple hours is either when he's drunk or after a big match or when we're on the road. He only sleeps when his body forces him to, otherwise he's up half the night because of his nightmares. The guy who used to be his best friends said that he can't wait to see if he tries to commit suicide again. He's-"

"Okay, Roman, I get it."

"Then how the hell can you say he's fine?!"

"Because he's with _us_. We're there every time he has a nightmare. We stay up with him when he can't sleep. We're having a damn fight about how to keep him alive for god's sakes. He's with _us,_ Roman. He's with _you_. So why the hell would he consider killing himself?"

"We don't know what happened the last two times," said Roman, "How are we supposed to just relax."

"We could just ask him," said Dean.

"And how exactly do we do that? 'Hey Enzo, Cass told us you tried to kill youself, what was that about?'" He scoffed, "Come on Dean."

"Well it's better than following him around with a bandaid. Which is basically what we've been doing. "

Roman exhaled loudly, "Okay. Fine. We'll stop trying to make him feel good. Happy?" he turned around and walked out of the kitchen towards their room. Dean sighed as he watched him leave.

When he got to the bedroom, Roman lay back on the bed and closed his eyes with a heavy sigh. He heard Dean come in a few minutes later. Dean lay next to him without a word. They sat in silence for a long time.

Dean broke the silence with a sigh, "You're not stupid," he said quietly, "I didn't mean that."

Roman waited a beat before answering, "I know," he said quietly, "I'm sorry I called you an ass."

Dean shrugged, "I know."

They went back to silence, but this time at least they weren't mad at each other. They both knew that they wanted the same thing. For Enzo to be okay. Neither man knew when they both started to care so much for the man. They just knew that they really did care about him, and they didn't want to see him hurt. And they were bound to have a fight or two about it considering they were both so different.

"What do you think they're doing with him?" asked Roman.

"Sasha and Bayley?" Dean shrugged, "I have no idea."

A sudden thought came to Roman and he let out a small smile, "You know, they took him so that we could have the place to ourselves and have some loud sex," he shrugged, "I think it would be pretty rude of us not to."

A huge smirk danced over Dean's face. He rolled over so that he lay on top of Roman, his chest flushed against his.

"Well we can't have that, can we."

Before Roman could respond, Dean lowered his head and caught Roman's lips with his. Roman's hands travelled up Dean's back as they kissed, one hand landing on his head and tangling in his short hair. Dean let out a soft moan as Roman's fingers brushed against his scalp. He pressed himself harder onto Roman's body, the clothed contact between their growing hard ones causing them both to groan.

Dean's hand went behind Roman's neck and he all but lifted his head off the bed, deepening their kiss. He sighed breathily as he parted his lips and felt Roman's tongue against his. Roman bit down softly on Dean's bottom lip and Dean ground his hips forward, eliciting loud moan from Roman.

Roman's hands slid back down Dean's back and he grabbed at Dean's ass and squeezed. Dean whined into Roman's mouth as he kept grinding down onto him, the hands on his ass pushing him even further down.

It didn't take long for the clothes between them to become unbearably constricting. Dean's hands slid under Roman's top and his hands ran up and down his tight stomach, resting on his hard nipples. Roman let out a shaky breath as Dean flicked and pinched him.

Quick as anything, he sat straight up, pushing Dean up with him. Dean immidielty took the opportunity to yank Roman's top off, and he did the same with his own. He dove back into the heated kiss, his hips still grinding down onto Roman's. Dean gasped when suddenly they were flipped over and he was on his back, his legs open as Roman lay between them. Thir lips and tongues never parted, even as Roman stared to unbuckle the belt on Dean's jeans. Dean was only too happy to help Roman out, making quick work of the belt and buttons and zipper. Roman's own sweatpants were a lot easier to take off, and before long they were both down to wearing absolutely nothing.

Roman thrust hard down onto Dean, their dicks rubbing hard together. Dean threw his head back into the mattress as he groaned out loud. Roman's lips found Dean's exposed neck and he left sloppy kisses all over him, biting and sucking as he went along, all the while grinding his now extremely hard dick against Dean's.

Dean's hands were clutching at Roman's hair and he pulled. The sharp pain in his head only drove Roman more and more.

"Fuck Ro," Dean groaned, wrapping his legs tightly around Roman's and thrusting up to meet Roman's own hard thrusts.

Roman's mouth detached from Dean's neck and he stared down at his lover with lustful eyes. The look of ecstasy on Dean's face only made Roman harder.

"Dean," he breathed, causing the man to open his eyes. He thrust hard up against Roman, simultaneously pulling hard at his hair, causing Roman's head to jerk back and his mouth to open and let out a loud moan.

"We should... we should get the lube," he groaned.

"Fuck the lube," breathed Dean as he lifted his hips, rightning his legs aruond Roman. He grabbed one of Roman's hands and slid three fingers into his mouth. Roman watched, breathing heavily as Dean sucked on his fingers. When Dean released the fingers from his mouth, they were replaced with Roman's lips. Their lips and tongues tangled together in heat, and Dean shuddered in pleasure when he felt Roman's fingers brush against his asshole. Roman bit down on Dean's lip and moaned in anticipation as his first finger slipped into Dean.

Dean's eyes squeezed shut as he felt Roman's finger slide in and out of him, and he let out a groan when another slipped in, and then another. Roman's fingers were fucking magic, and more than once, Dean had come from them alone, but today he was not gonna let that happen.

"God Ro, fuck me," he groaned, pulling back on Roman's hair so that he was looking him in the eye, "Now."

Roman was only too happy to comply. Dean whimpered at the loss of Roman's fingers, but he was empty only for a moment, because then he felt the tip of Roman's dick at his entrance. Breathing hard and heavy, Roman slid in slowly, cursing loudly as he did. Dean bit hard on the inside of his cheek as Roman began to fill him up. But he was going way too slow. He pulled Roman down hard with his legs, and in one hard thrust, Roman was fully seated in Dean.

"Fuck!" Roman cried out, throwing his head back.

Dean smirked through his panting, "You were taking too long."

Roman dove in for a sloppy kiss before taking both of Dean's hands and slamming them above his head, threading their fingers together.

He pulled out almost all the way, and then jerked forward in one forceful thrust. Just the way he knew Dean liked it. Over and over again Roman thrust into Dean with one hard thrust after another, nice and hard and slow, leaving the man under him a mess of moans and pants.

"God Roman please," Dean gasped, "Fuck, go faster." Roman only bent his head down to suck on the spot on Dean's neck that drove him crazy, all the while still keeping his arms above his head.

"Roman," he whimpered, "Jesus fuck please Ro."

Roman groaned into Dean's neck, keeping up with his slow, hard and torturous thrusts.

"Roman please," gasped Dean, tightening his fingers around Roman's. At this point he didn't even know what he was begging for, he just knew that he needed it. He needed it bad.

Roman smirked, lifting his face to look at Dean wit lustful eyes. He let go of one of his hands and slid it down his body, grabbing onto his ass and squeezing. Dean hissed in pleasure at the feeling of nails digging in to his skin, but he couldn't dwell on it hard because Roman's thrusts were starting to pick up in speed.

"God yes." Dean gasped, "Fuck Roman. Fuck go faster."

This time, Roman listened to him.

"Oh god!" Dean cried out, "Fuck yes, Ro!"

He moved hard and fast, the sounds of slapping skin and loud moans and frequent profanities filling the room. Hell, filling the apartment.

"Fuck!" Gasped Roman after a particularly hard tug at his hair.. He reached between their sweating bodies and took Dean's dick in his hand, tugging at it just as hard and fast as is thrusts.

"Jesus fuck Ro," came a deep growl.

Roman's answering moan all but shook the entire apartment.

Three times that day, Dean proved what he had said a while ago. Neither of them were quiet cummers.

:::

It was pretty late when Bayley dropped Enzo off. With a promise to hang out more often, he made his way up to his apartment. He'd had a great day with the girls. Watching movies and braiding hair as Bayley had said, but then a couple hours into the day, Bayley had told Enzo the real reason she had stolen him away from Dean and Roman, and for the rest of the day, all Enzo could think about was what the two were doing in there. And _where_ they were doing it, And _how_ they were doing it...

He was incredibly ashamed of himself for wondering such things, but some things couldn't be helped. He had tried to stop thinking about it, he really had, even resorting to slapping himself a few times. But Bayley had literally used the words, "Hot and loud fucking," so how the hell was he expected to just forget about that?

By the time he got to his front door, Enzo had imagined every single circumstance twice over in his head. As he slid the key into the door, a sudden thought came to him.

What if they were still doing it?

He froze with his mouth open, and then shook his head. No, he'd been gone for hours, surely they were done by now. But still... what if? Well how was he supposed to go inside now? What if he walked into that? But then again... if he were to walk in on that, that would totally not be his fault. Not at all.

He quickly opened the door and took a step in before stopping and listening. He stood like that for a while, and all he heard was silence. Okay then. They were done. Enzo walked fully into the apartment, and let out a long sigh. Whether the sigh was relief or disappointment, he honestly had no idea.

Enzo closed the door behind him before dropping his keys on the living room table. He took his jacket off and threw it onto the couch before heading straight for the kitchen. Dean and Roman weren't in there, so Enzo assumed that they were sleeping. Or possibly doing other things that...

 _NO Enzo!_

They were sleeping and that was all.

Shaking his head for what felt like the thousandth time that day, Enzo opened the fridge and grabbed a much needed beer. All Sasha and Bayley had had at their place was Ice Tea and water. He popped open cap from the bottle on his way to his room, but before he went in, he noticed something weird at Dean and Roman's. Frowning, Enzo walked towards it quietly. The door was half open, and inside, Dean and Roman were in bed, seemingly fast asleep and tangled together, but that's not what had caught Enzo's eye.

No, it was the bags that were packed and waiting by the door. Enzo blinked as he stared at them. Both Roman and Dean's bags were packed and it seemed like they were ready to go. They'd never really been properly unpacked, seeing as they were only going to be here for a few days, but still, the difference between a bag just sitting there and a bag that was packed and ready to go was obvious. And those bags were _packed and ready to go._

Where were they going? The show would be in Atlanta, Georgia on Monday so they'd all agreed to only start driving on Sunday morning.

It was only Wednesday.

Why were Dean and Roman packed and ready to go?

Were they leaving? Without Enzo?

Oh God. That was it. They were leaving.

Without him.

The realization hit Enzo like a brick in the face. He backed away from the room, his eyes still wide and staring at the bags that were packed and ready to go. Enzo turned around, not even feeling it as the bottle slipped from his hand and shattered onto the floor. He stumbled over his feet back into the kitchen and he all but fell onto the counter.

They were leaving.

Without him.

But... but why? Why were they leaving? Why didn't they tell him? Why didn't they warn him? Dammit, what was he thinking, why would they tell him, they were too damn nice. They were... Enzo gasped as he realised. That's why they were being so nice these past days. Oh god that's it. They wanted to leave all this time and they were trying to soften the blow.

Oh god they were leaving.

Enzo's eyes tightened shut, and he could feel his hands beginning to shake.

They were leaving. They were leaving without him.

Enzo didn't want them to leave. He _needed_ them to stay.

He hated to admit it to himself but it was true. He needed Dean and Roman to not leave him, but the _were_ and there was nothing he could do about it.

No, no there had to be something. They couldn't leave him alone. He didn't want to be alone again. He couldn't be alone again, he couldn't do it. He didn't want to do it. He needed them to stay. They had promised that they wouldn't do what everyone else did. They couldn't just leave him alone like this.

He felt his throat start to tighten and his breaths came in short gasps.

Enzo clutched as his throat and tried to swallow, but nothing would go past the lump in his throat. Oh god not this again. His throat was too tight and he was breathing weird and everything was blurry and his hands were shaking.

God, _please_ not this again.

Enzo bit down hard on his lip, hoping that it would pass and his body would go back to normal, but all he could think about were their bags that were packed and ready to go and everything just got worse. It got to the point where he could barely breath anymore, and he stumbled over to the sink, grabbing a glass and filling it with tap water. He lifted it to his lips, but it slipped from his hand and smashed into pieces on the edge of the sink. Enzo tried to catch the glass, but only succeeded in pressing his hand down onto the broken pieces. He didn't even notice as the glass cut into his skin, only grabbing for another.

"Enzo?" he heard behind him. He froze for a moment at Dean's voice, but then went back to filling up the glass.

"Hey," he said shakily, lifting the glass to his lips, this time, he managed a couple of gulps before his trembling hands lost grip again, sending the glass to the floor. Enzo didn't try again this time, only holding onto the edge of the sink, which was still covered in shards of broken glass. He didn't even notice.

"Enzo!" Dean said loudly. Enzo barely heard him, only focusing on trying to breath and trying to keep his hands from shaking so much.

"Enzo? Enzo what's going on." When Dean spoke again, he was right behind Enzo.

"Nothing." He said quickly, "N-nothing, I'm fine,"

"Dude, you're not looking so good." He placed a hand on Enzo's shoulder, but the smaller man jerked away with a gasp.

"I'm fine." he gulped, "I'm fine. I'm... I'm fine."

"Enzo-"

"I'm fine." He said again. It wasn't getting any better. His hands were still trembling and his legs were barely holding him up anymore. Dean kept asking what was wrong with him and Enzo kept lying and saying nothing, and it was only getting worse, because they were going to leave.

Enzo had to get out of here. He pushed away from the sink and tried to walk around Dean without looking at him. He only managed a few steps before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he legs gave out under him.

Dean watched in horror as Enzo blacked out and fell down. He managed to jerk forward fast enough to catch him before he could hit the floor. He stared wide eyes at his unconscious face.

"Roman!" Dean shouted, his eyes never leaving Enzo. Roman was there within a few seconds, and he gasped at the scene in the kitchen. He was shocked by the broken beer bottle at their door and the two broken glasses by the sink and what looked like blood on the edge. And then he saw an unconscious Enzo in Dean's arms on the floor.

He ran to them and fell to the floor, "What happened?" He demanded.

"I don't know!" Dean answered, his eyes wide and comfused and scared as he looked up at Roman, "I don't know! He- he was acting weird and he kept dropping glasses and he was shaking and he was hyperventilating and then he tried to get away and then he... and then he just blacked out!"

Roman felt Enzo's head with the back of his head. He was horrified to feel the cold sweat on his forehead, "Whatt the fuck," he whispered quietly.

"Roman what's wrong with him?" demanded Dean.

Roman shook his head, his eyes not leaving Enzo, "I don't... I don't know. I think he had a panic attack."

"Panic attack?" Dean exclaimed, "Why? What happened, why would he be having a fucking panic attack?"

Roman shook his head. He had no idea.

"We need to get him to his bed."

Before Dean could say anything, Roman's arms slid under Enzo and he lifted him up with ease. Dean got up off the floor, surprised to see his own hands shaking. He ran ahead of Roman to open the door to Enzo's room so Roman could lay him on his bed.

Once he was down, the two stood by the bed, looking at him. They looked at each other and saw that they had the same look of worry etched on their faces. They looked back at the pale man on the bed. What the hell could he have been panicking about?

:::

Ten minutes later, Enzo still hadn't woken up. Dean and Roman were sitting on either side of his bed, waiting. They'd placed a damp towel on his forehead, and now they were just waiting. They'd wanted to fix up his hands, but decided to wait until he woke up. So they just sat there. Waiting.

"Are you sure we shouldn't be doing anything?" asked Dean for the hundredth time, "Should we slap him? Or like, pour water on him or something?"

Roman shook his head with a sigh, "If we do that we'll be scaring him awake. I don't think it's a good idea after having a panic attack."

Dean sighed in frustration. He pushed off the bed and went to pacing across the room, knowing that if he sat still anymore, he'd drive himself crazy. Roman didn't move from the spot. Just stared at Enzo and waited for him to wake up.

And wake up he did.

His eyelids started to flutter, and then his head turned to the side. Roman gasped.

"Dean," he called him over.

Dean rushed to his side of the bed and sat as they waited for Enzo to fully get up.

Enzo's eyes fluttered open, and he had to blink several times before his vision cleared. When it did, he saw the two faces start down at him. He tried to sit up, but a hand pushed down gently on his chest.

"No no," Said Roman, "No don't move just yet,"

Enzo lay back down slowly, feeling something sliding down his face. He reached up and gasped, feeling a stinging in his hands. He shook the towel off his face and looked at his bloodied hand, glass shards still slightly embedded.

Oh. Right.

"How are you feeling?" asked Roman.

Enzo gulped, "Fine,"

"Bullshit," scoffed Dean softly.

"I'm fine," Enzo said again.

"Enzo," said Roman, "You had a panic attack."

Enzo scoffed softly, "No I didn't."

Dean and Roman glanced at each other.

"Enzo-"

"I didn't. I don't get panic attacks. I just... I had a bit of an accident and slipped and fell. I'm good. I'm fine."

It didn't take a genius to see that he was lying through his teeth, but Enzo was gonna give it a shot anyway. He hoped that they would at least pretend to believe him.

Roman reached for the bedside table and lifted something that made Enzo's stomach drop to his shoes.

"I... I was looking for a first aid kit," said Roman, "And I found these." He held up the bottle of pills, "They're anxiety meds. For panic attacks."

Enzo stared at the pill bottle, "I don't... I don't really need those. They're just... just in case."

"In case of something like today?" asked Roman.

Enzo bit down on the inside of his cheek. What was with this guy and not letting things go?

"I don't got anxiety, " he tried again.

"I'm not saying you do."

"I just... sometimes I worry a lot about things I shouldn't worry about. And then I sometimes gotta take those pills."

Roman just nodded, deciding not to mention the fact that he had just given the definition for anxiety, "Alright then."

Enzo nodded, and he didn't say anything after that.

Roman got the hint, "Alright, let's take care of your hands."

Enzo shook his head, "You don't gotta-"

"Shut up and hold out your hands," Dean said through gritted teeth. Enzo didn't dare say no.

This time they let him sit up as they took a hand each and worked on it with tweezers from the first aid kit.

They worked in silence, not asking him anymore questions, and Enzo was grateful. But there was still the nagging in his own mind That wouldn't go away,

Enzo swallow and clearned his throat, "Uh, I... I noticed your bags are kinda like.. packed. Are ya... are ya leaving?"

He had meant to be a bit more subtle than that, but it was out now, and he was holding his breath.

"Leaving?" Frowned Roman, "Leaving where?"

Enzo blinked, "I... I don't know. Georgia?"

"Georgia? I thought we agreed on Sunday. Did you wannna leave early? I guess we could find a good enough hotel for the rest of the week."

Enzo blinked at him, "No. No I don't wanna go I just... I... your bags are packed so I thought you wanted to leave. You know... without me."

Dean and Roman both looked up at him, and then at each other as they realised.

"No." said Dean firmly, "Are you kidding? Why the hell would we do that? We just packed our stuff cause we were gonna move into Cass's old room. Why the hell would you think we want to leave?"

Enzo just blinked at him. And then at Roman.

"You're... you're just changin' rooms?"

"Yeah," shrugged Roman, "It's bigger."

Enzo blinked, "Oh."

"Why'd you think we were gonna leave?" frowned Dean.

Enzo shook his head, "I don't know." he said honestly, "I guess my mind just goes there."

Roman sighed, putting down Enzo's now de-deglassed hand, "We're not gonna just leave Enzo."

"Yeah," said Dean, "We promised, remember? You gotta trust us man. Don't you trust us?"

Enzo looked from one man to the other for a long time without saying anything. He didn't think he'd be able to speak over the lump in his throat, but he surprised himself when he did.

"I do." he said softly.

He was even more surprised when he realised that he meant it.

:::

 **Hello again.**

 **Leeh here**

 **I'm just taking this opportunity to thank all of you for reading and reviewing and following and stuff. Especially to those of you who review because those things are awesome. There're a few people who review like every single time and you guys are just the best people ever and I love you very much.**

 **And to those of you who don't review, that's okay too. Even though it hurts, *insert single tear roll here* it's cool, I forgive you.**

 **And also, just as a heads up, I might take a little longer with the chapters from now on because I published another story and I'm also working pretty hard on that one. But honestly it shouldn't affect 'Broken Pieces' because I'm really enjoying writing this. And besides, I do very little sleeping, so it's all good.**

 **Oh and also, now that I'm a Fanfiction writer with two (TWO!)** **published (albeit incomplete) stories, I'm feeling pretty official, so I think I'm gonna just go ahead and call myself an author because it sounds all professional-like.**

 **Okay, that is all.**

 **Byee**

 **WAIT THAT IS NOT ALL!: I don't know if you noticed, but I wrote some smut up there. ;) ;) ;) ;)** **Considering I'm not a guy and I have no actual** **idea how penis sex works, I think I did a pretty decent job. How about you? (If you hated it though, don't tell me, you can keep that to yourself, thanks)**

 **P.S: I realize that I sometimes leave long A/Ns. Next time, feel free to just skip it, because they usually aren't that important anyway.**

 **Okay Im done for real now.**

 **Bye bye.**


	11. Broken Lines

**Disclaimer (should I be doing these for every chapter?): I think it's pretty obvious that I don't own these guys. I mean if I did, I wouldn't need to write stories about them, I'd just force them to act them out.**

 **HA HA HA I joke, I joke.**

 **(or do I?)**

:::

"Exhibit J," announced Dean, "This weird looking tent thing."

"Dean, that's a jacket," sighed Enzo.

Dean looked closely at the weird looking tent thing that he was holding up, "This is the ugliest damn jacket I have ever seen."

"Hey!" frowned Enzo, " _I_ bought him that jacket."

Dean's eyebrows rose, "Really?"

"Yeah!"

Dean sighed, "Enzo. This is the ugliest damn jacket I have ever seen."

"As if you have the best dress sense," scoffed Roman.

"Better than Enzo's" shrugged Dean.

Enzo just glared at him and Dean threw the tent-jacket into the box marked 'Burn'.

There were three boxes marked 'Donate', 'Keep' and 'Burn', and they were slowly filling with Colin Cassady's belongings.

It was late into the night, and the three were in Cass's old room and getting rid of his stuff. It was obvious after Enzo's non-panic-attack that sleep wasn't an option for him at all. And it was equally as obvious that Dean and Roman were definitely not going to let him stay up by himself, so they all went to Cass's room to clear it out for when Dean and Roman stayed here in the future.

The fact that they would be staying over in the future did weird things to Enzo's stomach. And he liked it.

They started in the closet. Where Dean was holding up all of Cass's abnormally large clothes and dividing them between 'Donate', 'Keep', and 'Burn'. Naturally, Dean had wanted to burn everything, but Roman said no.

At the moment, 'Donate' had the most stuff in it. 'Burn' was pretty full too. For now, the box marked 'Keep' was empty except for some money found in pockets. Enzo was sitting on the bed while Dean and Roman took turns rummaging through the closet. He wasn't allowed to touch anything because the others thought he was going to hurt his hands after the... accident earlier. His protests of 'It was only glass' were ignored.

"Alright, exhibit P." continued Dean.

"How'd you get from J to P?" frowned Roman.

Dean scoffed, "Ro, I lost count about ten exhibits ago. I've just been calling out random letters for half an hour now."

Roman rolled his eyes as he chuckled.

"Now, exhibit P, this... uh... this..." he sighed, "Enzo, what is this?"

Enzo squinted, "I think that's a scoodie."

Roman frowned, "I'm sorry, what?"

"You know, a scoodie. It's a scarf that's also a hoodie. See, it has the hat and everything. Pockets too. ...Scoodie."

Dean held the offending piece of clothing at arms length, "That ain't right."

He made to throw it into the 'Burn' box, but Roman stopped him, "Wait hold up. I like it, put it in 'Keep'."

Dean gaped at him and Roman shrugged defensively, "It's convenient. Haven't you ever wanted a scarf with pockets?"

"No! Come on, I'm not _that_ gay." He threw the scoodie into the 'Burn' box, ignoring the protests from Roman.

He carried on going through the closet until it was empty of all his clothes. Dean was about to shut the door when he noticed something at the back.

"Hang on, what's this?" He went into the closet and pulled out what looked to be a guitar case.

Enzo gasped when he saw it, "that son of a bitch."

Dean opened the case and pulled out a bright yellow guitar that looked like it hadn't been used in ages.

"Cass plays guitar?"

"No, _I_ play guitar," he huffed, "I thought I'd lost that thing, but this whole time Cass had it?"

"Why would he hide your guitar?" frowned Roman.

"Well, I kinda suck," sighed Enzo. He shrugged, "Must've gotten tired of listening to me."

Roman's eyebrows wnen up, "Well that's a dickish thing to do."

Enzo shrugged, "Nah, I get it. I mean, I really suck. A lot."

"You can't be that bad,"

"I kinda am," Enzo shrugged, "But trust me, with a couple lessons I could be the next big thing."

"Hey, _I_ can teach you!" grinned Roman, "I'm pretty great at guitar."

"Yeah," scoffed Dean, "But you're an awful teacher."

"The fact that you can't sit down and listen to instructions for more than five minutes doesn't make me a bad teacher, it makes you a shitty student."

Dean just pulled a face and Enzo laughed.

"You can really play?" Enzo asked Roman.

"Like a pro," Dean hated to admit, "I've yet to find one thing that Roman can't do perfectly." He had a way of making a compliment sound like a bad thing. Enzo just laughed as Roman rolled his eyes.

"You sure you can teach me?"

Roman nodded, "Of course. Once your hands heal up I'll have you playing like Jimi Hendrix in no time."

"My hands don't need to heal up," sighed Enzo.

"Yeah, I'll be the judge of that," scoffed Roman.

"It doesn't even hurt," Enzo sighed and looked at his unnecessarily bandaged hands.

Dean shook his head at that, "Someone should teach you how to act too while you're at it." He muttered.

"I can do that too." said Roman.

Dean laughed out loud, "Nope. You suck at acting Roman."

"What? I do not."

"You totally do. That's the one thing you're bad at. And trust me, you're really bad."

Roman glared, "Yeah, well, so are you."

"Oh, I'm sorry," huffed Dean, "I can't hear you over the sound of my movie!"

Roman rolled his eyes, "Dean, your movie sucked."

Dean looked up slowly, letting out a long gasp.

"Yeah, I said it." Roman crossed his arms.

Dean snarled at him, "I'm sorry Roman, how many movies have you been in?"

Roman lifted his chin, "Hey, you know I sent that e-mail to the 'Game of Thrones' people and I'm expecting a reply any day now!"

"Roman how many times do I have to tell you?" Dean shook his head, exasperated, "They're not gonna resurrect Khal Drogo and make you his long lost brother."

"Well they might." Muttered Roman.

Dean rolled his eyes, "Well while you live in your dream world, some of us have actual real movies. That are real. And you know what, we should go watch it right now." He turned to Enzo with a grin, "you've got it, right Enzo?"

Enzo looked around the room and scratched his head.

Dean blinked, "Enzo. You do have my movie, right?"

Enzo cleared his throat, "Not exactly…"

Dean's face fell, "Why the hell not?"

Enzo sighed, "I'm real sorry Dean, but I never really finished it. It was kinda terrible."

Dean's eyes narrowed dangerously and Roman laughed out loud.

"You can both go to hell," he huffed.

Dean swore not to speak to either of them for the rest of the night, but he could only keep that up for about three minutes. Roman counted.

The ransacking of Cass's old room continued through the night, until Roman found an unopened bottle of expensive looking wine under his bed. Obviously, they had no choice but to open it. After finding random things to drink out of, they found themselves sitting on the floor of the bedroom passing the bottle around and having pretty pointless conversations. That's when Dean had the idea of playing Truth or Dare without the 'dare' part and only the 'truth' part. Roman argued that that wasn't as much a game as it was having a conversation, but Dean just told him to shut up and play. And so they did.

"Alright, how about this." said Dean when they were about halfway through hte bottle, "Who's your Celebrity crush."

Enzo scoffed, "Celebrity crush? What are we, teenage girls?"

"Everyone's got a celebrity crush, Enzo." Said Roman matter of factly, "If I had to pick one, It'd definitely be Michael Ealy."

Enzo thought about it, "Yeah he is pretty hot," he admitted.

"Pretty hot?" Scoffed Roman, "I swear he's the most beautiful man to ever walk the planet."

Dean cleared his throat. Loudly.

"Second," Roman corrected himself, "I meant second. Second most beautiful man to ever walk the planet." He patted Dean's knee with a smile.

Enzo laughed as Dean rolled his eyes. He couldn't help but agree though. Michael Ealy was pretty hot. But Dean and Roman definitely had him beat in the 'beautiful' department.

Enzo froze at his thoughts.

Wait what?

When did his mind go from them being sexy to them being beautiful?

Alright, he had to stop this. Preferably right the fuck now please.

"Enzo!"

He snapped out of his thoughts, "Hm? Yeah? What?"

"I asked who your celebrity crush is." Repeated Dean.

 _Ya'll are_. Said a small voice in his head.

 _NO Enzo!_ He yelled at the voice.

"Uhm…" he said out loud, "Uh…"

At the moment, the only names floating around his head were those of the two men sitting across from him, and he sure as hell couldn't say those because he most certainly did not have a crush on Dean and Roman, and he had no idea where his mind had come up with that crazy idea.

And besides, even if he did have a crush on Dean and Roman, it wasn't his fault, it was theirs.

They were too good. They genuinely cared about Enzo. They'd known him for only a few weeks, and they cared. Hell, they knew him be better than practically anyone else. They knew how messed up he was and how fucked up his past was. They'd stayed up with him after his not-a-panic-attack without giving him those weird looks he'd grown to expect.

They were good people.

They were goddammed perfect.

So if Enzo did have a crush on them, (which he did _not_ ) if most definitely was not his damn fault.

Enzo swallowed as they looked at him, and he remembered that he still had a question to answer.

Having no choice, Enzo said the only other name he could think of at the moment.

"Rick Ross." He said quickly.

Dean and Roman said nothing for a while. They looked at Enzo, and then at each other. And then back at him.

"Rick Ross?" blinked Roman.

Enzo nodded, "Yep. I ain't a huge fan of his, but damn he's beautiful."

Again, they just looked at him.

"Rick Ross as in…. the rapper." Dean clarified.

"Yup."

"That really big dude with the really small cars?" asked Roman.

"That's the one."

"The guy with the beard and the tattoos and the girls?"

Enzo nodded with a wistful smile, "What I wouldn't give to have that guy for a day."

Dean and Roman glanced at each other again.

"Rick Ross," said Roman slowly. "Well, each to his own, I guess."

Dean shook his head, chuckling, "Rick freaking Ross. Man you're weird."

Enzo scoffed, "I'm weird? Dean, you're drinking wine out of a frying pan."

"No," Dean held up a finger, "What's weird is the fact Cass randomly had a frying pan under his bed."

"What's weird," said Roman, "is the fact you have no idea what was in there, and you're still using it."

Dean shrugged, "The kitchen's too far and you two hogged the only cups in here, so what choice did I have?"

Roman just rolled his eyes and Enzo laughed, glad that his mind had forgotten about the fact that he had accidentally thought about having a crush on Dean and Roman.

Great, now it was back.

He cleared his throat, "So who's your person, Dean?" he asked, hoping to distract himself.

Roman scowled as if already knowing the answer, and Dean smiled dreamily,

"I'd totally do The Rock if I were single. And if he was into dudes."

Enzo's eyebrows furrowed. He looked at Roman, "Ain't The Rock your cousin?"

"Mh hhm," Roman gave an annoyed hum, "he sure is. And is it okay that Dean has a thing for my cousin? Absolutely not."

Dean rolled his eyes, "Please," he scoffed, "The fact that he's you cousin has got nothing to do with it. You're just jealous of anyone I look at and frankly, it's unhealthy."

Roman scoffed, "I am not jealous of everyone you look at."

"Then why do you hate Renee so much?"

"Because she's an evil bitch who doesn't understand boundaries!" he yelled.

Dean just raised his eyebrows and Roman glared at him.

Enzo watched them with an amused smirk on his lips.

"This is embarrassing to listen to," he muttered as he sipped on his wine.

Roman glared at him, "More embarrassing than having a crush on Rick Ross?"

"What's wrong with having a crush on Rick Ross?"

"If you don't know Enzo, we can't help you," Roman patted his knee.

Enzo just scoffed, "I don't know what y'all are talking about, Rick Ross is hot."

Dean just shook his head along with Roman.

"Now back to Truth or Dare," he announced,

Roman sighed, "This ain't Truth or-"

"Nobody asked you Roman!" he silenced him with a hand, "Now Enzo, what is the most embarrassing thing you've ever done? Besides admitting you have a crush on Rick Ross."

Enzo rolled his eyes. He frowned and thought for a while.

"Well I don't know… I've done some pretty embarrassing shit in my life…"

"Yeah we know," chuckled Dean.

Enzo spared him a glare before going back to thinking.

"Well," he said after a while, "I cried during sex once."

Dean scoffed, "That's not so bad. Roman cries during sex all the time."

"What?!" Roman spluttered, "What? No I don't!"

Enzo laughed and shrugged, "Well you do seem like the type."

Dean threw his head back laughing and he raised his frying pan for Enzo to clink with his cup.

Roman crossed his arms and glared as they laughed at his expense.

"Why you guys always gotta hang up on me?" he muttered.

They never did go back to sorting through Cass's stuff. Once the wine bottle emptied, Dean and Roman started to drift off. They tried to stay awake, but drowsiness won over, and before long, they were dead to the world.

Enzo watched them with a small smile on his face.

He wished they had slept on the bed, but he they were too heavy to carry, and he knew that if he woke them up, they'd insist on staying up with him. So he just grabbed two pillows and a blanket and draped it over them.

Then he sat back down on his spot and tried not to stare at them. It was pretty hard considering they were so beautiful.

Dammit, there was that word again.

He shook it out of his head as much as he could. That only made space for a different thought.

" _I asked who your celebrity crush is."_

 _"Y'all are,"_

Enzo slapped his hand to his head.

What the hell was wrong with him?

He couldn't be thinking like this. This was dangerous territory. Especially for Enzo, seeing as he had a tendency of wanting things he knew he couldn't have. And Dean and Roman were at the top of the list of beautiful things that he most definitely couldn't have. So he had to stop thinking about them. Sexy was one thing, but 'beautiful' was a whole different ball game. A much more dangerous ball game at that.

So he had to fucking stop.

Right the fuck now please.

…Which meant he had to stop staring at them.

… _Stop staring at them Enzo._

 _…Now, please Enzo._

As he watched, Dean muttered something illegible in his sleep, then he rolled over, his arm draping around Roman's waist as he did so. As if sensing him, Roman turned his head so it was buried in the crook of Dean's neck.

Enzo smiled softly.

He couldn't help but think it. They really were very beautiful.

He sighed at himself. _Dammit Enzo._

:::

When Roman woke up, he was on the floor again.

He woke up on the floor a lot these days.

What was more, he was on his back, and there was something heavy pressing on his stomach. He didn't have to open his eyes to know it was Dean. He smiled.

"Morning,"

"About damn time," said Dean, "I've been sitting here for about twenty hours waiting on you to get up."

Roman smiled as he blinked his eyes open.

"Sorry I took so long,"

Dean smiled down at him, "I might forgive you."

Roman's smile widened, "Well just tell me what I need to do."

Dean bent over with a smirk on his face, "I think you know exactly what you need to do."

Roman's hand went up behind Dean's neck, pulling him down and capturing his lips in a searing kiss. His other hand went down to Dean's ass, squeezing hard and making Dean moan into his mouth.

Dean's lips went down to suck on a spot on Roman's neck as his hands scratched down his chest and stomach, finally stopping at the elastic of his pants.

Roman gasped at the feeling of hot kisses on his neck, and he lifted his hips off the floor, allowing Dean to slide his pants off.

He grabbed at the elastic of Dean's own pants, tugging hard at them and wanting them gone.

Dean sat up and quickly got rid of his own pants once Roman's were gone.

"Wait," Roman frowned, "Where's Enzo?"

"Sleeping," answered Dean, "I took him to his room a while ago." He dove back down onto Roman's lips, cutting off all talking. Roman didn't mind a bit. His hand slid down Dean's chest, and he took his already hard dick in his hand. Dean let out a loud moan as Roman started to jerk him off. He jerked his hips forward, thrusting into Roman's hand and grinding his ass against Roman's rock hard cock.

"Oh fuck," Roman groaned into Dean's mouth, lifting his hips up, desperate for more contact.

Dean bit down on Roman's bottom lip and sucked it into his mouth. Roman's hot breaths on his face were only driving him more and he ground down harder onto him.

"Fuck, Dean," he groaned.

"Please do," Dean smirked.

Roman shook his head as Dean let go of his lip, "Fucking smartass."

His hand hadn't left Dean's dick, and his strokes were only getting faster.

Dean reached behind him, lifting his ass up and taking Roman's cock in his hand. Not caring about lube or prep or any of that stuff, Dean positioned the hard cock against his asshole and slammed himself down, letting out a shouted curse as he did.

"Holy fuck!" Roman jerked his head back so hard he heard it crack against the floor. He hardly felt it though, his senses overtook by the feeling of Dean's tight ass around his throbbing dick.

"Fucking hell, Dean."

Dean's eyes were screwed shut. His head thrown back and his mouth open in ecstasy. He lifted his ass and slammed back down, biting down hard on his lip as the pleasure shot through his body.

Their moaned blended together and it was hard to tell them apart as Dean bounced up and down on Roman's cock. With the feeling of the cock inside him and the hand tugging at his dick, Dean knew he was gonna come sooner rather than later, and he wanted Roman right there with him. He moved faster, moving his hips in circles and making Roman groan.

"Shit yeah, just like that," he panted, "Oh god yes Dean." His hands grabbed at Dean's ass and he guided his hips as they ground against him. He started to lift his own hips off the floor, thrusting up as hard as he could.

Dean couldn't even formulate words, only letting out strangled sounds as Roman's dick pounded hard against his sweet spot.

In the next room, Enzo lay in his bed with his eyes open wide.

Holy shit.

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

The walls were pretty thin in his apartment, but even if they weren't, he knew that he would have heard just the same.

They were so damn loud.

He couldn't see anything, but his imagination was pretty vivid, and with the sounds coming from next door, it didn't take much to figure out what was going on just next door.

Dean and Roman were fucking. Loudly.

And it was the hottest thing Enzo had ever heard.

"God Roman, right there!"

Enzo's eyes screwed shut. He felt really damn guilty getting off on this, but honestly, who wouldn't?

"Jesus fuck." Came Roman's deep growl, "God Dean, fuck this cock."

Enzo almost whimpered as he hit down hard on his lip. His own cock was throbbing under his shorts, but he didn't dare touch it. That would be crossing a major line. This was fucking torture. Enzo didn't remember ever being this hard, and here he was, harder than he'd ever been, with nothing but their moans and curses and his extremely vivid imagination.

He heard the heavy pants and the sound of skin slapping against skin as clearly as if he were in the room with them. This time, he did let out a small whimper, biting down harder on his lip to keep from getting any louder.

"Oh god please. Please fuck I'm gonna come."

Enzo shook his head. Fuck morals, he couldn't take this. He let his hand slip into his pants and he gasped, his eyes flying open as he finally touched himself. He had no time to be gentle. He was desperate and he knew wasn't going to last long. There was already pre-cum leaking from his throbbing cock and he used it as lube as he jerked himself off.

"Oh god don't stop!" Roman groaned, "Please don't stop."

"Please don't," Enzo whispered. In the other room, the moans were only getting louder and Enzo was losing it. His other hand went up to his head and he pulled hard on his hair, the sharp pain only driving him harder. His hand tugged harder on his dick as the pants in the next room grew faster.

"Fuck fuck fuck me Ro." Dean gasped, "God yes fuck!"

Enzo bit down on the inside of his cheek. He lifted his hips, thrusting up in time with the sounds of skin against skin.

"Roman!" Shouted Dean, "Roman fuck!" His screams we're getting louder and his pants were getting faster and Enzo knew that the two weren't far from climax.

God knew, neither was he.

"Oh my fuck," Enzo whimpered as Dean cried out.

"Fuck Roman!" he shouted. His groans were breaking, as if he could hardly catch his breath. Roman didn't sound any better. The only thing coming out of his mouth was Dean's name in broken breaths.

Enzo's hand jerked faster, his head thrown back as he tried to keep the shouts from tearing out of his mouth.

Dean reached his release first, his yell causing Enzo to gasp, his eyes squeezing shut. Roman followed a second after, his deep growl shaking through the apartment and ripping through Enzo's body.

He clamped a hand over his mouth in a desperate attempt to shut himself up as his back arched off the bed and he came, harder than he ever remembered coming before.

Seconds passed, and the apartment was silent except for three sets of very heavy breathing.

Enzo heard a shifting in the next room, and then a growl, "Don't you fucking move." he heard Roman say.

"I ain't going nowhere." chuckled Dean.

Enzo swallowed hard. In the picture in his mind, Roman was lying on the floor, his dick still inside Dean, who was lying on top of him, legs on either side of him and head rested on his chest. He bit the inside of his cheek, the image making him sweat, even though it was just in his mind.

Taking a much needed deep breath, Enzo looked down and lifted the blanket on top of him. He sighed when he saw his cum covered hand and the unmistakable stain on the blanket.

Okay, maybe he did have a bit of a crush on Dean and Roman.

Maybe.

He sighed at himself, shaking his head.

 _Dammit Enzo._


	12. Broken Songs

Laying on top of Roman was probably Dean's favourite sleeping position. And with his head against his chest, Roman's heartbeat was the best lullaby. Dean could stay like this forever. But he knew that falling asleep with Roman's dick still inside him was not a very good idea. He'd let it happen once and he woke up with his ass hurting like hell. But right now with Roman's arms holding him so tightly and his hands sliding up and down his back like they were, it was really hard to even think about moving.

"Roman," said Dean quietly.

"Mh mmh?" he hummed.

"Get outta me, will ya."

Roman whined weakly, "Do I have to?"

"Last time I fell asleep like this-"

"You couldn't walk for hours," Roman chuckled at the the memory.

"Oh you think that's funny?" Dean scoffed against his chest, "Next time I fuck you, I'll let you fall asleep with my dick in you. See how _you_ like it."

Roman just laughed again, but he finally unwound his arms around Dean's back and let him sit up. He sighed as his softening dick slid out of Dean with a pop.

Dean lay back down and Roman's arms tightened around him again. They lay in silence, just listening to each other breathe.

A sudden thought came to his mind and Roman's eyes opened slowly.

"You don't think we woke Enzo do you?"

Dean lifted his head slowly to look at Roman with a frown. He thought for a moment and then shook his head, "Nah, we weren't that loud."

"Okay, good," sighed Roman, "Cause that would've been embarrassing."

Dean chuckled, laying his head back down on his chest.

"He was sleeping when you took him to bed right?"

"Uh huh," said Dean, "Totally dead to the world. I accidentally bumped his head against the door and he didn't even stir."

"Dean," Roman sighed.

"He's fine, don't worry," assured Dean, "he even stayed asleep when I took the bandages off his hands."

"You took off the bandages? Dean why the hell would you do that?"

"Rome," he sighed, "You gotta chill with all your babying. It's kinda acceptable that you wrap Jojo up in bubble wrap every time she bumps into a wall, but you can't do that with adults. Plus, his hands weren't even bleeding. He's fine."

Roman just huffed, "Well you never know. Maybe they'll started bleeding again."

"They won't."

"How do you know?"

Dean let out a long sigh, "Would it make you fell better if I checked on him?"

Roman smiled and kissed the top of Dean's head, "much."

Dean rolled off tiredly and tried to stand up. A few moments later, he gave up.

"On second thought, maybe you should go. I didn't wanna get up."

"Alright," he sighed. It took him a while too, but he eventually managed to stand up and make his way to the door.

"Roman," Dean stopped him with a sigh.

"Yeah?"

"Put some pants on."

Roman looked down and sighed, "Right."

:::

Enzo's initial plan was to stay in bed until he died. Whether from bed sores or from starvation, he really didn't care.

it was a bad plan, even he had to admit. But there was no way in hell he could face Roman or Dean after what just happened. Once the rush of orgasm faded, crippling embarrassment stepped in and Enzo decided that hiding in his room would be the best way to go.

But then he heard them talking in the other room. Not loud enough for Enzo to hear the full conversation but by the end of it, he heard enough to know that Roman was about to come check on him.

At that, panic swelled in his belly, and moving faster than he though he could, Enzo shot up, ripping his pants off and using them to wipe down his hands and stomach and dick before bundling them up and throwing them into a far corner. He arranged the blanket around him in a way he hoped would make the cum stain unnoticeable, and the he lay on the pillow, closing his eyes just as his bedroom door opened.

He could hear his heart beating and he was sure that it was probably sounding around the apartment as well. He held his breath as footsteps came closer and closer, and stopped once they were by his bed. He felt the mattress dip and he knew that Roman was sitting on the bed.

Enzo prayed to every deity he could think of, begging them to make his fake-sleeping believable. It seemed to be working so far because he wasn't being called out on his bullshit yet.

It was then that he felt a hand touch his face, just for a split second. It was there, and then it was gone so fast he had to wonder if he'd imagined it. He didn't have time to dwell on it though, because then the blanket over him was being lifted, and then he felt Roman take his hand.

Enzo's already speeding heart went manic as Roman held his hand gently. Well, he wasn't really holding it per say, just checking it. But still. His hand was in Roman's hand and it was driving him nuts. He felt rough fingers trace over the marks where the shards of glass had embedded themselves. He sucked in an involuntary breath, but by some miracle, Roman didn't notice. He just put his hand down and took the other one, tracing his fingers over it like he had done with the first. He set the hand back by Enzo's face and got off the bed.

And then he was gone, leaving Enzo with his heart beating a mile a minute, and a tingling in his hands that felt like it would never go away.

:::

Dean looked at his watch with a frown. It was well into the afternoon and Enzo was still in his room. He kept telling Roman that it was nothing to worry about, but now he was starting to worry as well. Every time they checked on him, he was fast asleep and not moving. Dean had even checked to see if he was breathing a few times.

He was, but still... it was weird.

"That's it, I'm waking him up." Roman said.

"It's cool I'll go," Dean stopped him and got up. They hated waking him up, especially seeing as he already had such a hard time sleeping, but they were also pretty sure that sleeping for a whole day and night was unhealthy.

Dean knocked softly and received no answer, as usual. He let himself in and saw Enzo lying in bed. It looked like he hadn't moved since Roman had checked on him that morning. Dean wondered if something was wrong.

Dean walked into the room and sat down softly on he bed. He put his hand softly on Enzo's shoulder, and he was almost sure he felt him stiffen under the touch. He frowned.

"Enzo?" he said softy.

Nothing.

He shook his shoulder lightly, "Enzo. Hey, wake up."

Dean watched Enzo's face as his eyes blinked open.

Enzo's eyes widened at seeing Dean's face so close to his. For a moment he could only stare at him.

He gulped.

"Hello." he managed to choke out. His voice was a lot huskier than usual considering he'd spent so long not using it.

"Dude," frowned Dean, "You look like shit."

Enzo knew that he was probably right. Although they thought he had been asleep, he'd really just been lying awake staring at the wall and hardly blinking as he thought about what a fucked up situation he'd put himself in.

So he was bound to be looking a little bugged out.

There was a sound at the door and both Dean and Enzo turned to see Roman, "Hey he's awake."

"Yeah," said Dean, "And he looks like shit."

Roman sighed and rolled his eyes, "Dean, what did I say about being too honest?"

Dean just shrugged, "Dude, look at him. He looks like he was hit by a bus."

"Well yeah," shrugged Roman, "But we don't say that stuff out loud, remember?"

Enzo cleared his throat, "I'm sitting right here," he muttered.

Roman looked at him apologetically, "don't worry, we're all allowed to look like shit once a while," he shrugged, "Now come on. Now that you're up, we can go to the Performance Center."

Dean jumped up from the bed, "Finally, I really wanna punch something."

"Uh," Enzo glanced down at the blanket over him and remembered his lack of pants. He really didn't wanna have to explain that. "Ya'll go ahead, I'll catch up,"

He shook his head when it looked like Dean was about to protest, "If I look as shitty as ya say, it'll take me a while to freshen up."

Dean nodded, "Yeah, I ain't waiting another two hours for you to beautify yourself," he snorted. he bounded out of the room, "just don't take too long!" he called back to Enzo.

Enzo sighed in relief, glad that the excuse had been so easily bought. But then he saw Roman still by the door and looking at him with a small frown.

"You sure you're okay?"

Enzo nodded quickly, "I'm fine, really."

Roman didn't seem convinced, "If you're not up to go we don't have to." he assured.

Damn, this man was too observant for his own good.

Enzo let out his most convincing smile, "Really, I'll just catch up with you. I'm good, honest."

:::

Even though he thought he'd never get out of bed, Enzo did eventually make it to the Performance Center. It was pretty full inside, mostly with the NXT roster. Dean and Roman were in one of the rings. Enzo waved, just to let them know that he was there, and then went over to the gym. He hoped that working out and straining his body as much as possible would eventually make him forget about the happenings of the morning.

It worked for a while, but eventually the place started emptying, and eventually he had to leave the gym area and go back to the main room, where Dean and Roman were alone in a ring, shirtless and sweating and rubbing all over each other...

Holy damn...

"Hey, there you are!" Roman shouted over when he noticed Enzo watching them. Thankfully though, he didn't notice the drool.

"Come over here," Dean called over, "Roman thinks he can take us both at the same time. Cocky son of a bitch thinks he's fucking invincible."

Roman rolled his eyes, "I'm not cocky, Dean, I'm just being honest when I say I'm better than everyone."

Dean glared, "Enzo, you better fucking help me beat this fucker."

With a laugh, Enzo made his way to the ring. Honestly, he had no doubt that Roman could take him and Dean together. Damn, the man could take anyone and win, But Dean's pride obviously demanded proof, and so the makeshift match began.

Roman Reigns verses Dean Ambrose and Enzo Amore, was honestly a pretty even match, as they soon found out. Obviously none of them were going full out, mainly because they didn't want to actually hurt each other, but the competitive nature eventually got the better of them.

And then Enzo got an idea.

Dean frowned when he heard it, "What, are you crazy?"

Enzo shook his head with grin, "Come on it'll be great!"

Dean snorted, "Enzo, I'm not gonna throw you are you kidding?"

"Why not?" he frowned. Dean narrowed his eyes at him, realizing that he honestly didn't see anything wrong with being used as a human javelin.

Roman showed up at the edge of the ring when he saw that they were no longer invested in the makeshift match.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Dean's head snapped to Roman, "Enzo wants me to throw him," he said accusingly.

Roman scoffed, "Yeah, that's not happening."

Enzo threw his hands up, exasperated, "Come on, it's easy."

"Enzo, I'm not going to thrown you at Roman!" Dean all but yelled.

"Come on, it's my best move! All you gotta do is..."

"No!" Roman frowned, "It's not gonna happen, so quit asking."

"It worked with Cass all the time," he persisted.

"We I ain't Cass am I," said Dean with a glare.

"And Cass shouldn't have ever done that anyway," Roman said with crossed arms.

"Why not?"

"Because you're not a fucking weapon!"

That sure shut him up.

"That... that ain't how it is."

"That's exactly how it is," said Roman.

Enzo opened his mouth to protest but was stopped with a glare.

"Tell me Enzo," said Dean, "When you're getting thrown over the ropes and you crash land on all those people, who does it hurt?"

"It hurts them!" he shouted, trying to defend the move he's grown so accustomed to.

"And you?"

He huffed, "Well yeah, a little. But it hurt them even more. Enough that Cass can use the time to pick up the win."

His answer only seemed to make the other two angrier.

"So Cass picks up the victory while you're in pain on the floor?" said Dean through gritted teeth, "does that seem fair to you?"

"That actually sounds like bullshit," said Roman.

"And now you expect us to do the same thing."

Roman shook his head at Enzo, leaving him to feel a lot smaller than usual.

"I think training is over for the day," said Roman with a finality in his voice that couldn't be challenged.

Enzo gaped at them, "What, so now you're mad at me?"

"Well obviously!" Dean scoffed.

"What the hell did I do?"

"You have no sense of self preservation." said Roman matter of factly.

Enzo snorted, "what, and you do?"

"'Course we do," said Dean.

Roman scoffed, "Well _I_ do."

Dean turned to him slowly, "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Come on Dean, just last week you wanted a handicap match with Braun Strowman and Big Cass. That sound like someone who cares about their own well-being?"

Dean glared at him, "Well if we're talking about lack of self preservation, you're the one who always picks fights with the most dangerous people in the business."

Roman scoffed, "What are you talking about, I _am_ the most dangerous person in the business."

Dean just laughed, "Oh you think so?"

Enzo backed away slowly as they turned their attention to each other. He knew that once they were at it like this, it could take ages before one of them eventually gave in and stopped the fight.

He stepped over the ropes and walked slowly down the steel steps as Roman listed all the people he had beaten and Dean basically put his hands over his ears and sang.

Enzo had to be honest though, he was glad the attention was off of him, because he had been starting to run out of ways to defend himself. The more they said it, the more he started to realize that maybe 'Air-Enzo' wasn't such a great move. Not for him anyway.

Was it weird that they outright refused to throw him in fear of causing him pain while Cass hadn't picked up on that in all their years? Or... or did he just not care enough that he was hurting Enzo?

Why did it all of a sudden seem like in the last few weeks, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns has grown to care about him a lot more than Big Cass ever had?

The thought confused Enzo. A part of him was absolutely giddy at the fact that Dean and Roman cared for him. The other part... well the other part was crushed at the mere thought of Cass not giving a damn about him. Well, it was obvious that he didn't give a shit about Enzo now, but still, Enzo still had that part of him that knew that it hadn't always been this way, That there had been a time when Cass truly loved him as much as Enzo did. That the brotherhood Enzo thought they had had wasn't false. That he hadn't spent five years of his life with a friend who thought of him as nothing more than a weapon.

The thought crushed him. It hurt more than he could ever admit. It was fucking painful, and for once, he was glad that Dean and Roman were too busy fighting to notice.

:::

"No, I said G-sharp..."

"Yeah, I'm doing it."

"Um, no actually, you're not."

"Then what's this that I'm doing now?"

Enzo strummed a note and Roman winced, "I don't know what the hell you just did." he admitted, "But... don't do it again, okay"

Enzo glared at him, but went back to finding G-sharp.

"Okay, here it is."

"No Enzo, that's A-minor,"

He shrugged, "That's basically the same thing."

Roman sighed in exasperation, "No, Enzo. That's not even close to the same thing."

They both glared at each other, Enzo with frustration, Roman with exasperation.

Their first guitar lesson was not going well.

They had made it back from the Performance Centre and Roman was using the free time to try and teach Enzo how to properly play his guitar.

The key word being 'try'.

it had been almost two hours and it was not going well.

Luckily, the front door opened to reveal Dean holding bags of Chinese Takeout.

"good news, it only took me 10 minutes to find the place this time," he grinned as he dumped the stuff in th kitchen, "How's the lesson going?"

"Roman sucks at teaching!" yelled Enzo.

"Enzo sucks at listening!" Roman shouted back.

Dean just laughed, "Yeah yeah, I know, you both suck. now come on, I'm making dinner."

"You're putting noodles on plates," muttered Enzo as he gently set his guitar down.

"Same thing," Dean shrugged.

They sat at the table and Enzo sighed at the Moo Shu Pork on his plate.

Dean moaned at he scarfed down a forkful, "it's good," he mumbled with a full mouth.

"Mine's better," Enzo shrugged.

"Yeah, it is," Dean couldn't help but nod.

"Maybe I could-"

"You're not cooking," Roman said before h could even finish.

Enzo sighed, opening his mouth to protest, but he didn't get the chance.

"Enzo I told you, you can't cook for us everyday, it's not fair."

"I like cooking, I told you. It ain't like I'm doing it 'cause I _have_ to."

He glared at them when they just kept eating their stupid takeout.

"Cass used to let me cook everyday," he muttered.

That sure got their attention. The glares he got made Enzo shrink back in his chair.

"Amore," said Roman quietly, "If you compare us to Colin Cassady one more time, I will lose it."

Dean looked at Enzo pointedly, "You do not want Roman to lose it."

Enzo knew that they were partly joking, but still, the idea of Roman losing it didn't really seem all that fun. So he nodded with tight lips and went back to eating the bad takeout.

Enzo clamped his mouth shut and went back to moving food around with his fork.

"You're not eating," Dean said, noticing almost immediately, "Why aren't you eating?"

"I was about to," Enzo said defensively, "just... I ain't that hungry."

"How?" frowned Roman, "You haven't eaten all day."

Enzo opened his mouth to deny it, but realized that he was right.

He really didn't feel like eating, but now they were blatantly watching him, so he sighed heavily and shoved a forkful down his throat.

"There we go," Dean slapped his back and carried on eating.

"Now eat up so we can go back to the lesson,"

Enzo tried not to groan, "Again? Come on, I think I've managed to prove that I really do suck at guitar."

"You don't suck, Enzo you just... lack practice."

"Is that a nice way of saying he sucks?" asked Dean sincerely.

"Kinda, yeah," Roman shrugged,"But not to worry, Amore. You're not completely hopeless."

After dinner they spent another hour practicing, with Dean sitting on the couch watching them with a bowl of popcorn. Much to Roman and Enzo's annoyance, he found this very entertaining. The fact that they were both so frustrated was hilarious to him. He eventually called a timeout when Enzo looked like he was about to smash the instrument over Roman's head.

"You know what the problem is?" said Dean helpfully, "Enzo's holding the guitar."

"Well gee, thanks Ambrose."

"No that's not what I meant," he waved the comment away, "I mean you've got the guitar and Roman's just telling you what to do, and obviously that's not working. Like, at all. Because the sounds coming out of that thing are inhuman."

"I'm sorry, is this supposed to be helping?"

Dean just held up his hand, "I think Roman should play for a while, and Enzo, you can just watch. Maybe you learn better that way."

Begrudgingly, Enzo handed the guitar to Roman and threw himself on the couch next to Dean, "Well fine Mr. 'I'm great at everything', let's see what you got."

Roman rolled his eyes, then sighed, "I can't play without my-"

"Way ahead of you." said Dean, holding out a pair of glasses.

Enzo's eyebrows went up, "I thought those were only for reading."

"Mostly for reading," he shrugged as he sat back down. He put the glasses on and they rested gently on his nose.

He plucked a few strings to warm up his fingers, "haven't done this in ages," he muttered with a smile.

Dean smiled softly, "Play that one song from that one place."

Somehow, Roman seemed to know exacrtly what he meant, because he grinned, "I love that damn song."

His head bent over the guitar and he started strumming.

Enzo didn't recognize the song but he could already tell that he loved it.

Honestly, he didn't know if it was the song, or if it was the fact that Roman was playing it. Watching from this distance, Enzo was transfixed. With his hair in a loosening ponytail at the nape of his neck and his vest riding up his stomach and that guitar on his lap and his foot tapping and those damn glasses sitting so perfectly on his face, Enzo couldn't keep his eyes off of Roman Reigns.

Forget sexy. Hell, forget beautiful. The man was purely perfect.

About thirty seconds into strumming, Roman broke Enzo's trance by looking up. He grinned at Dean.

"Come over here," he said gesturing him over his head, "You remember the words?"

Dean got up smiling and sat beside Roman. Leaning his head back, he bit his lip and closed his eyes as he tried to remember.

Then Dean started to sing, and Enzo stopped breathing .

 _Saying I love you_

 _Is not the words I want to hear from you_

 _It's not that I want you_

 _Not to say but_

 _If you only knew_

 _How easy_

 _It would be to show me how you feel_

 _More than words_

 _Is all you have to do to make it real_

 _Then you wouldn't have to say that you love me_

 _Cause I'd already know._

After that first verse, Enzo didn't even hear the lyrics. And honestly, he doubted that Roman or Dean heard either. He doubted they were hearing anything at all at the moment.

Roman had stopped looking at the strings and was just letting his fingers take over, because right now, his eyes were glued on Dean's face with a look of affection that Enzo had never seen before. Dean's grin as he sang was so full of adoration for the man in front of him.

It made Enzo smile.

As he listened to the song and as he watched them together, Enzo realized that he had never actually heard Dean or Roman say the words 'I love you' to each other.

And as he saw them look at each other, it was obvious that they didn't need to. The love they had for one another was so obvious, Enzo wondered why he went for so long without seeing it.

The way they looked at each other made Enzo realize with a pang in his chest that no one had ever looked at him like that. And frankly, no one ever would.

It also hit him that the only people he wanted looking at him like that were so in love with each other they had forgotten that he was even in the room.

The sudden pang of pain in his chest was so severe and so surprising it made Enzo gasp.

Unfortunately, it was loud enough that the music came to a sudden stop and Dean and Roman turned to him.

"What's up?" frowned Dean.

Enzo gulped, "Nothing, nothing just... hiccups." his voice was suddenly surprisingly raspy, but it at least made the excuse believable, "Sorry, ya'll should carry on, Im'ma go get some water."

He was out of the living room before he could do or say anything that would be suspicious.

He grabbed himself a bottle of water from the fridge, but drinking it was almost impossible because of how closed up his throat suddenly was. He shut his eyes tightly. he was so fucking mad at himself. What the hell did he think he was doing? Of all the people in the world he had to have feelings for, it just had to be these two.

Why couldn't one thing in his life be simple? Why was it always so fucked up?

Why was _he_ always so fucked up?

He shook his head at himself and forced down a gulp of water.

In the other room, the music had picked up again. This song, he did recognize, but Roman had changed it. Made it slower. Somber. More beautiful. Or maybe he just thought that because it was Roman playing and Dean singing and he was biased. Either way, the song was only making him feel worse. He listened to the lyrics, and they seemed to be mocking him. But that voice and that guitar forced him to listen. He leaned against the fridge and closed his eyes, letting the music wash over him.

 _Oh but I need some time off from that emotion_

 _Time to pick my heart up off the floor_

 _Oh when that love comes down_

 _Without devotion_

 _Well it takes a strong man, baby_

 _But I'm showing you the door_

 _'Cause I gotta have faith_

 _I gotta faith_

 _'Cause I gotta to have faith faith faith faith faith..._

:::

Roman and Dean made love again later that night, and Enzo lay in the bed next door, sad, lonely, and hating himself for wanting them.

:::

 **Quick A/N: I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msooooofuckingsorry I took so long to update.**  
 **Things have been incredibly fucked up in my life for a while and this is legit the first time in months that I actually have access to a computer.**  
 **I won't bore you with the long, tragic details, but I promise that updates will be coming a lot faster from now on.**

 **Thanks for not abandoning this story and thank you for reading and thank you for reviewing (*cough*hinthint*cough*)**

 **Another quick A/N: The songs in this chapter are More Than Words by Extreme and Faith which is by George Michael, but the version that Roman and dean did is a cover by Sleeping at Last. Just in case you wanna go have a listen.**

 **Okay, that is all.**

 **Bye bye**

 **-Leeh.**


	13. Broken Bottles

**AN: Dudes... writers block is a bitch.**

:::

"I'm really starting to miss the whole homey feel," sighed Dean as he sank back on te couch of the hotel they had just checked into, "this place is too clean."

As he set the bags down, Roman couldn't help but agree. Well, he wasn't complaining about the cleanliness, no, he liked that, but you could always tell the difference between a hotel and home. And after staying at Jimmy's place in Phoenix and his place in Pensacola and Enzo's place in Orlando, this hotel just didn't cut it.

Dean frowned, "Shouldn't Enzo be up here by now?" They had left him by the hotel gift shop to by a mug shaped like a pig that he just _had_ to have. He was still searching his pockets for change when they left him.

"How long does it take to find some coins?"

Roman shrugged, "Well you gotta admit, he's got a lot of pockets."

Dean chuckled, and then his laughs faded as Roman sat down next to him, propping his feet over his legs. Dean let his fingers dance over Roman's jeans and then sighed.

"How long are we gonna ignore this thing?"

Unfortunately, Roman knew exactly what he was talking about, "We're... we're not ignoring it."

"It kinda feels like we are." muttered Dean,"I mean, we've know for almost a week now, and we still haven't said anything about it."

Roman leaned his head back and squeezed his eyes shut, "Yeah but... do we have to?"

Dean looked at Roman with narrowed eyes, "What do you mean?"

Roman scratched the back of his neck, "Well I mean... does...does he really have to know that we know?"

Dean's eyebrows shot up as he stared at Roman, "Well Yeah!"

"But-"

"Roman," he said slowly.

With another long sigh, Roman rubbed a hand over his face, "Look, he looks good. I think he's good. I mean, he ain't perfect, but I don't think Enzo's in that place right now. or anywhere near that place actually. So maybe we don't have to do anything."

"Roman, pretending we don't know ain't gonna make it go away,"

"We ain't pretending,"

"Well you're _trying_ to."

"Well what if I am?" he burst out. He was slumped on the couch, a pained look on his face as he tried to stay calm.

"Dean, he... he tried to kill himself. I don't know how to deal with that, I don't know what I'm... I don't know what to do! What are we supposed to do?"

Dean sighed softly. He always joked about it, but he knew that Roman did have a pathological need to _know_. He always knew what to do. He always had the answers. He was always Superman, and now he didn't know what to do. He didn't have the answers.

For once, Dean did.

"Ro, you remember Sami?"

Roman frowned at the change in topic, "Zayn?"

"No, Callihan."

"Oh right, back at NXT. He's the guy who-" Roman stopped and looked at Dean, who nodded.

"Yeah, the guy who killed himself."

Roman couldn't believe it, but he had actually forgotten about Sami. They had never been close back in NXT, hell, they hardly even spoke, but it was kinda hard to think of someone as just another colleague after they hung themselves in the locker room.

Roman had never been Sami's friend, but Dean had.

"The night before he died, we went out for drinks and it was great. We had a great time, he was... he was great. And then a couple hours later, he was dead, and I never even got the tiniest hint that he was about to do something like that."

He swallowed hard at the memory, and then sighed gratefully when Roman took his hand in his and squeezed, 'What I'm trying to say is... he looked like he was in a good place, but he wasn't. Enzo could also be in a good place, but then again he might not. So I think... I think leaving this alone is a real bad idea. I mean, we just don't know where his mind is at. We don't know what he's thinking."

Roman sighed softly. Dean was right. he knew he was but... he really wished he wasn't. He wished that Enzo was an open book. One he could read and understand and.. and _fix._

But he wasn't. He was closed off and insecure and really damn good at pretending. And Roman just had to accept the fact that he didn't know.

They didn't know what Enzo was thinking or what was going through that head of his.

They honestly had no idea.

Downstairs, Enzo had finally found enough coins in his pockets to buy the pig cup, but then when he got to the counter, he ditched the cup in favour of a pack of cigarettes. He didn't know why he did it, because he hadn't smoked since he started wrestling. But they just looked so tempting sitting there and calling to him. So that's how he found himself outside in the parking lot at the back of Roman's truck going through the pack faster than he thought he could.

He felt guilty for smoking, but damn, he kinda deserved it. He deserved some guilty pleasure because he had just had an awful week.

To think, it started with a great night at RAW, single-handedly (mostly) pining Big Cass, and now... now here he was pining after the most unavailable people ever.

And what made the situation worse was the fact that he couldn't tell a soul. Hell, he didn't even have a soul to tell.

More than once, he had considered calling Carmella, but every time he pictured her reaction he winced and then put that idea to rest. Then there was Mama, and he didn't really like talking about 'relationship' stuff with her, she always got real... vulgar.

The only other person he talked to was Cass. And that was...

...Well

He took another long drag of his cigarette, reaching for another, only to find that he was all out.

Great, now even the cigarettes were leaving him. With a sigh, he threw the empty pack over the side of the truck.

So no Carmella, no mama, no cigarettes, definitely no Cass, no booze, no... wait.

Booze would work.

Didn't he see a liquor store a couple blocks away? Yeah, yeah that would be good. A bottle of Jack and he'd be able to face Dean and Roman without turning into an angsty, pubescent teenager again.

And then maybe he could sleep till tomorrow.

As he jumped off the back of the truck, Enzo hurried towards where he thought he saw the liquor store, but he hadn't even made it a few steps through the parking lot when a car almost barreled him over. He jumped out of the way just as the car screeched to a stop.

"I'm walking here!" he yelled at the drivers window.

The window rolled down to reveal none other than Corey graves in black aviators.

"You tryna kill me or what?" Enzo demanded.

Graves took off his glasses with a sigh. He held up a hand, "My bad."

"My bad!" Enzo spat, "That's all you gotta say is 'my bad'? You almost killed me."

"You look fine to me Amore." he said coolly.

Enzo just glared at him, "You're a dick, you know that?"

Corey shrugged, "So I've been told."

Enzo shook his head at him, and Corey rolled his eyes, "alright, geez, I'm sorry I almost ran you over. Happy now?"

Enzo glared, and Corey scoffed.

"It's not like it's only my fault, you're the one who walked into the road. Maybe _you_ should apologize."

Enzo scoffed again, "Im'ma add 'delusional' to the list of stuff that's wrong with you."

Corey rolled his eyes again. he seemed to do that a lot, "Where were you going in such a rush anyway? And where're your new bodyguards today?"

Enzo snarled, "they aren't my-"

"They're not your body guards, yeah I know." he rolled his eyes again, "Now are we gonna sit and chat all night or are you gonna leave me to go get drunk in peace?"

Enzo frowned, "You're going to get drunk?"

"That's the plan," he put his aviators back on and started the car, effectively ending the conversation.

Or so he thought.

"Yeah, I'm coming with you," said Enzo, making a spur of the moment decision and going around the car. He jumped into the front seat and slapped the dashboard, 'Let's go."

Corey stared at the sudden invasion and blinked, "Amore, get out of my car."

Enzo turned, looking around the back of the car, "That is lot of alcohol, Graves."

"Enzo, leave."

"Yeah you definitely need help with that."

"Amore-"

"And im'ma do that for ya. To show that I forgive you the whole, 'nearly killing me' thing."

"Amore I swear to god you had better get the hell out of my car or I'll-"

"Come on Corey, do you really wanna spend Sunday night drinking alone?" as he said it, he realized that that's exactly what he had been planning to do.

Corey stared at him in disbelief, "You're out of your mind,"

Enzo only laughed, "You have no idea."

Corey glared at that stupid, smug face and all he wanted to do was open the door and throw him out.

Instead, to his surprise, he just let out a long sigh and turned to the wheel.

With wide eyes, Enzo stared at him as he drove. He let out a short laugh, "Wow, i thought that would take a lot more nagging."

Corey rolled his eyes, "Yeah, me too."

Corey didn't drive far. He found a small lake a little away from the hotel and parked by the water. He got out of the car, taking a six-pack of beer with him and went to sit on the hood. He didn't say a word to Enzo, just expecting him to follow, which, of course, he did.

"I still really don't like you," said Corey as he cracked open a can.

"Likewise," smiled Enzo, raising his beer. With another eye roll,, Corey lifted his can to clink with Enzo's.

They drank in silence for a long time, both just staring into the lake and the darkening sky, thinking about their individual problems. It didn't take them long to get drunk. The grass around the car was littered with empty cans and empty bottles. It was actually surprisingly peaceful, which surprised Corey, because the words 'peaceful'and 'Enzo Amore' did not mix. Maybe there was more to him than his loud mouth.

Corey realized that he spoke too soon when Enzo suddenly let out an obnoxious laugh.

He turned his head to Enzo slowly, silently telling him to shut up.

"I just realized," said Enzo as he laughed, "that all this is your fault."

Corey's eyebrows shot up, "Excuse me?"

"All of this! it all started because you couldn't keep your mouth shut about knowing who my anonymous attacker was."

Corey's eyebrows went even higher, "You're kidding me."

"No, really. If you'd just shut up about it, everything would be as it should be."

"As it should be?" he scoffed, "You mean with your partner attacking you from behind every week?"

"Oh come on, everybody attacks me from behind at some point. In case you didn't notice, not many people like me. Cass would have just gotten it out of his system and then we woulda been fine."

Corey couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"We'd still be a team. That mean's I never woulda started travelling with Dean and Roman and if that happened then I never would have-" he stopped himself just in time. The end of the sentence sat unspoken on his tongue, mainly because he didn't want Graves to know, but also because he didn't want to admit to himself that his feelings were that strong. That he had almost admitted to falling for them.

He lifted the beer to his lips and chugged it down. He groaned at the already developing headache.

"'S all your fault," he glared at Graves again.

Corey gaped, "You know, I was expecting more of a 'thank you'."

Enzo scoffed, "What?"

"I helped you out, Amore. Whether you wanna admit it or not. If i'd 'kept my mouth shut' as you say, you'd probably still be with a partner who hates you, instead, you're now hanging with two guys who actually give a shit about you. So yeah, a thanks would be great."

Enzo looked at him and blinked, "You... you think they give a shit?"

Corey scoffed, "Well obviously."

Enzo turned towards the water so that Corey wouldn't see the gleam in his eyes at that statement. but then the gleam died almost immediately, because they didn't give a shit in the way he wanted them to... He leaned back onto the back windscreen and sighed.

Corey glared. he still hadn't heard a thank you.

"You are so full of shit, Amore."

He sighed, "I'm full of a lot of things, Graves."

They sighed simultaneously, taking swigs from their cans. It was kinda back to peaceful, and then an obnoxiously loud noise came from Enzo's pocket.

Corey resisted the urge to cover his ears, "God, is that your ringtone?"

He nodded, "I love this song." he smiled as he pulled out his phone.

Caller ID revealed that it was Roman.

"Oh no." Enzo sighed, "Can't answer that."

Corey looked over and raised an eyebrow, "Why not."

"'Cause I'm a lil' drunk. I don't wanna talk to Roman when I'm drunk. I can't lie when I'm drunk."

"Why would you have to lie?" scoffed Graves.

Enzo didn't say anything. But he knew that Roman would ask if he was okay, and then Enzo would have to tell the truth and tell him that he was far from okay, and then Roman would ask why, and then Enzo would have to tell him that he was catching feeling for him and his boyfriend...

"Yeah, I'll just text him." he decided.

Corey just shook his head, deciding that he didn't even want to understand what the hell was going on with this guy.

"I think we're almost outta alcohol," he sighed after a while.

"Damn," sighed Enzo, "that... that's a lot of drinking." He laughed suddenly, "Usually nights of drinking end with dirty sex," he sighed.

"Well that's not how this night's gonna end," scoffed Graves.

Enzo laughed again, "Yeah, you should be so lucky."

"I think you give yourself too much credit, Amore."

"Hell no," Enzo shook his head, "Sex is actually my biggest talent."

"I thought you'd say talking is your biggest talent."

Enzo thought about it, "actually, I'm a pretty great talker in bed too."

Despite himself, Corey laughed, "Why am I not surprised?"

Enzo leaned back smirking, "You wanna hear? I could show you."

"Please god, no."

Enzo ignored the plea and cleared his throat, "Okay, say we're about to have sex or whatever."

"I'm not gonna say we're about to-"

"And you're naked."

Corey groaned, "You're not serious."

"And I'm naked"

"Dude-"

"And I'm touching all over you."

"Enzo-"

"And I mean _all_ over. I'd start with your chest," he looked over at Corey, "You strike me as a chest hair kinda guy. I like chest hair. Especially when you're sweating. And if you were about to fuck me right now, trust me, you'd be sweating."

Corey swallowed, "Enzo..."

"You know what else I like?' Enzo smirked, "Biting. I like to leave marks," he looked Corey up and down, and then shocked him by placing a hand softly over his chest, "Bet there's a lot of places I could bite you, Graves," his hand pressed down harder, his nails starting to dig in. And then he dragged his fingers slowly down, letting them linger just above his belt, "And I bet there's other places I could do a whole lot more than just bite, ya feel me?"

Corey swallowed hard. He didn't look like he was in any state to answer.

Enzo let out a soft chuckle as his hand went back up, stopping just below his clavicle, "I'm definitely feeling you, Corey. The things I could do to you man. Oh, the things you would do to me."

He looked him over with hooded eyes, his fingers brushing the skin just under his shirt, "I wonder if you could take me in your backseat. Not much space, but I don't think we'll be needing it." Enzo bit his lip, "Or there's a perfectly good lake right there. I like fucking in water, don't you? All that wetness going everywhere. And you know what they say, natural lubricant is the best."

Corey hadn't blinked in a while. In fact he hadn't moved a muscle.

"Personally though," continued Enzo, "I prefer no lube at all." he let out a long sigh, "Oh, that's the best. I'm a sucker for some rough play, Corey."

His hand drew down again, his nails slowly dragging down Corey's front, "You think you could be rough enough for me?" he asked, "I think you would. I think you could bend me over this car right now. Or maybe I'd just come over there, get on top of ya." he sighed, "So many options Graves. so much to do."

The quiet was deafening as Enzo's hand finally left Corey's chest, and he leaned back with closed eyes, with Corey just looking at him with hooded eyes and wet lips. Very suddenly, Enzo's eyes opened and he smiled, "See? told you I'm good at this."

He sat up and stretched his arms, very pleased with his demonstration. He was about to hop off the hood, but before he knew it, Enzo was pushed down against the windshield and Corey's mouth was on his. He pulled away with a gasp,

"What-"

"You can't honestly say all that shit and not expect this." he growled.

He grabbed at Enzo's hair, slamming their lips together. Surprisingly, Enzo moved his lips against Corey's, for only a moment before he came back to his senses.

"Graves, you've lost it." he shook his head with wide eyes.

"Yeah," Corey breathed, staring at Enzo's lips, "Yeah, probably." he made to kiss him again, but Enzo's hand on his chest stopped him.

"Dude, are you serious. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm always down for a fuck, and I'm mad horny right now, but I don't want this getting outta hand."

Corey groaned, "Don't worry Amore, I'm not gonna fall in love with you, I promise."

He moved closer again, but Enzo wasn't done.

"'Cause we're pretty hammered, and I get that i'm kinda irresistible, and you're not so bad yourself, but that don't mean-"

"Enzo, Enzo, listen. Unless it's about your mouth on my dick, I'm really not up for conversation right now."

Enzo shrugged, "Fair enough,"

This time, the hand on Corey's chest pulled him closer, closing the distance between their lips. For good.

:::

A couple of hours later, Enzo was trying to sneak into the hotel room. It was pretty late, so he was pretty sure that Dean and Roman would be sleeping already, but when he opened the door as quietly as he could, he found them standing by the couch with their arms crossed and glaring at him.

"Uh... hi." he croaked out. He cleared his throat trying to get the croak out of his voice, "Hi. Hello."

He closed the door behind him, and tried to make his eyes focus.

"I ain't drunk," he assured, "Just... just in case you were wondering. About that. I am not."

He nodded, satisfied that he was safe, but before he could even take a step away from the door, Roman stood up at his full height and froze him to the spot.

"You smell like alcohol," he said lowly, "Alcohol... and sex."

Dean stood next to him, glaring, "Really Enzo? You were out drinking and sexing the whole night?"

Enzo blinked, "Well not the _whole_ night." he said softly.

"You could have called Enzo, that's all we're saying."

"I sent you a text," he shrugged.

"Don't wait up'?" Roman scoffed, "You call that a text?"

"Who were you with anyway?" Dean said through narrowed eyes, "'cause I know you weren't drinking and sexing by yourself."

Enzo sighed, "Guys-"

"Was it Sasha? Cause you know she's with Bayley and-"

"What? No!"

"Carmella then. You two had a thing back in NXT right?"

"I wasn't with Car-"

"It was Balor wasn't it! Yeah, I've been hearing rumors."

"Oh my god," Enzo sighed, holding his head.

"Oh god it better not be Cassady," snarled Roman.

Enzo stared at them with wide eyes, "You gotta be kidding me!"

"Then who was it?"

"Who cares?" Enzo snapped, not understanding why he was being interrogated, "I'm a grown ass person, so why do you care who I drink and fuck with anyway?"

Roman and Dean paused, realizing that they didn't really have a good answer to that. They really had no reason to, Enzo was a grown ass man. Like he said, he could drink and fuck with whoever he wanted. They knew that.

So why were they making it such a big deal?

"It's a work night!" Roman suddenly burst.

"Yeah!" Dean agreed quickly, "that's why. We got work so you should be resting and shit."

Enzo opened his mouth to argue but Roman held his hand up, "Work tomorrow, come on, we're all gong to bed."

He turned towards the bedroom and was glad that no one could see the look on his face. He was confused at himself.

Enzo raised a solid point. Who he decided to sleep with had nothing to do with them. It was none of their business. So why was the thought of Enzo out with someone else bothering him so much?

He shook his head, deciding that maybe a suitable answer would come to him after he slept.

It didn't.

He still woke up thinking about who the hell Enzo had been out with all night. One look at Dean staring at the ceiling with a small frown, and Roman knew that he was thinking the same thing.

Enzo stayed sleeping for most of the day. When he did finally wake up, it was with a splitting headache.

"Oh my god," he groaned as soon as he was conscious. His hands went to his head and he could swear he could feeling it throbbing.

"Oh my god," he groaned again.

"Yeah, that's what you get for staying out drinking and sexing all night,"

Enzo managed to open his eyes a little to see Dean sitting at the edge of his bed.

"Here, I got Advil and water. We got work in an hour so you're gonna need it."

Enzo nodded and tried to sit up, but his head felt way too heavy.

"Oh my god," he moaned again, "What the hell did I do?"

"I think the proper question here is _who_ the hell did you do."

Enzo frowned, "Huh? what do you-"

And then it all came came back to him. The car and the alcohol and the lake and... and Graves.

Corey Graves.

Holy shit, he fucked Corey Graves.

Enzo sat up slowly as he remembered, the headache temporarily forgotten.

"Oh my god," he said again. With every passing moment, the memories were filling Enzo's head. in explicit detail.

Very explicit detail.

Dean watched as shock played over Enzo's face, and then he let his head fall into his hands.

He frowned, "uh... Enzo?"

Enzo just shook his head, and then his shoulders started to shake, and for an awful moment, Dean thought that he was crying. But he knew Enzo's shoulders, and that was not the crying kind of shaking...

"Dude, are you laughing?"

Enzo didn't answer. He couldn't, because his laughter was getting louder, as if the joke in his head just kept getting funnier.

"Oh my god!" he said again as he chuckled, managing to lie back down, but still laughing like he was possessed.

Dean blinked at him, "Roman," he called, "He's lost it for real now."

When Roman showed up at the door to the room, he was surprised to see a guffawing Enzo lying on the bed and a very confused Dean next to him, still holding the Advil and water in his hands.

"Enzo, are you okay?" he asked slowly.

Enzo shook his head as he laughed, "Nah, I... I have obviously gone insane. Last night I..." he stopped with his mouth open, almost as if he physically couldn't say it.

"Well are you gonna tell us who the hell you were with?" Dean couldn't help but burst.

Enzo snorted, rubbing his head, "yeah, wouldn't _you_ like to know..."

Dean glared. He stood up with a huff, "You can get your own fucking Advil," he muttered as he stormed off.

He stayed angry for the rest of the day. Mad that Enzo wouldn't tell them who he had had sex with.

It was an unreasonable thing to be angry about, Dean was aware of that. Hell, he still really had no idea _why_ it was such a big deal to him in the first place.

So he turned to Roman. When Dean was being unreasonably angry like this, he knew that Roman could always talk him down.

This time however, he found Roman in the living room area, angrily tying his shoelaces. Dean didn't even know it was possible to angrily tie your shoelaces, but... Roman was somehow managing to do it.

"Why are you angrily tying your shoelaces?" Dean asked.

Roman huffed, "I don't know what you mean. I'm tying my shoelaces with a normal amount of emotion."

Dean raised his eyebrows, "...Okay."

Roman nodded once.

Angrily.

"Come on, time for work." He stood up and then stopped, "Where's Enzo?"

Dean shrugged, "I dunno, he went outside. Probably to do more sex stuff with his new secret lover."

With another snarl, Roman nodded, "Alright, then." Really, his annoyance didn't make any sense. But it was there and it didn't look like it was going anywhere.

The fact was, he simply didn't like the idea of Enzo going off with some random stranger that Roman didn't know. The image of him in bed with someone was making him sick.

It was making them both sick.

And they didn't know why.

:::

 **A/N: Do _you_ know why?**

 ***insert creepy laugh***

 **-Leeh**


	14. Broken Faces

"Hey there, lover,"

Corey straightned up at the voice behind him. He whipped around to see the one person he did not want to see that day, and he had a shit eating grin on his face.

"Oh god, it wasn't a dream."

The look of absolute horror on his face brought Enzo so much joy.

"Oh, but it was a dream come true for me," he said, trying to sound sincere through his held back laughter.

Graves made a sound that was almost a whimper as he squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I can't believe this oh my god what the fucking hell.." he chanted to himself, trying as hard as he could to turn back time. Back to when he was still sane.

Enzo patted his shoulder and smiled, "It's alright, let it out."

Corey all but jumped away at his touch.

"No," he pointed a finger at his face, "no, stop that, I am not doing this with you. It never happened, it never will again, and we will never speak of it, clear?"

Enzo just grinned at him. Corey gave him a withering glare and spun around, storming off in the opposite direction.

"So I'll call you later then?" Enzo called after him. Corey groaned as if physically in pain.

All he had wanted to do last night was enjoy a nice night alone where he could drink himself unconscious. There was shit happening alll around him and he just wanted to forget it for one night, but instead Enzo fucking Amore jumped in front of his fucking car and then drank his fucking booze and then they ended up...

Well... fucking.

How the hell did this happen?

All he knew was that he had woken up with a killer hangover and a dream that was apparently not a dream.

How drunk must he have been to go that far?

With Enzo Amore, of all people. it must've taken a lot of fucking alcohol for Corey to find Enzo Amore as anything other than completely repulsive, so what the hell?

Corey groaned again. He needed a drink.

Wait, no! He didn't want another drink. He didn't want another drink ever again.

Last time he had a drink he ended up in bed with Enzo Amore. Well, not _bed_ per se. No, there were no beds involved at all actually. Just the lake. And the hood of his car. And the backseat of his car...

And then the lake again...

Corey realized that he was no longer walking. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Okay, he had to stop thinking about the fact that he had spent the night with Enzo Amore. With... with sex and conversation and everything.

Honestly, that was the most surprising part. The fact that he'd... he'd actually had conversation with Enzo Amore. Good conversation. And... and some of that conversation had been quite stimulating...

He squeezed his eyes shut again and shook his head violently.

 _Dammit Corey._

:::

"Reigns!" Roman's head snapped towards Billy, one of the guys who worked backstage.

"Yeah?"

"Angle wants you in his office. As in now."

Roman mentally cursed, "I didn't do anything though."

Billy just shrugged, "He just sent a radio call for you. Wants to see you before we air."

Billy walked away leaving Roman to wonder what the hell he was in trouble for this time.

Being called to the bosses office was never really a good way to start off Monday night RAW, even _he_ was aware of that.

As he was walking, he ran into Dean going in the same direction as him.

As soon as they saw each other their eyes narrowed.

"What did you do?" they hissed at the same time.

Dean's eyebrows shot up and Roman sighed, "you were called too?"

Dean nodded with a sigh, "You think the cameras caught us making out again?"

Roman scoffed, "Course not, we've been very careful."

Dean shrugged, "Well then let's go see the boss."

As they approached Kurt's office, Dean brought back his much prepared 'it wasn't me' speech, while Roman tried to muster up his, 'I'm oh so sorry' face.

Dean got to the door first, and opened it without knocking.

"Kurt," he started, "Before you say anything I wanna holy SHIT!"

Dean's eyes bugged out when he saw what was in the office. It was Kurt alright, but in front of him was a seven foot man who may have been Big Cass. Dean couldn't really tell considering his face looked like a battered tomato.

He was nudged away from the door and Roman finally went in. He raise his eyebrows when he saw Cass, but his reaction was almost completely opposite to Dean's.

He smiled.

And Cass growled.

Kurt glared.

"That'll be all, Cassady."

Cass nodded once and strode out the door, pushing past a still gaping Dean. He stopped in front of Roman. Cass wanted nothing more than to kick that smirk off his face, but he held himself back. Instead, he straightened himself to his full height, and much to Roman's surprise, he smiled.

That's all. A single smile, and then he was gone.

Leaving Roman to face a furious Kurt, and a shocked Dean.

"Roman." Kurt said slowly, "do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Roman did not have anything to say for himself.

Kurt had been hoping for an apology, but who was he kidding? This was Roman Reigns he was talking to.

Kurt shook his head, walking wearily behind his desk and sitting down.

"Cass tells me that his... injury is thanks to you."

Roman scoffed, "It was his own damn fault." he muttered.

Kurt sighed, "So you're not denying it?"

Roman shrugged with one shoulder. Leaving Kurt to shake his head.

"Reigns, do you have any idea how lucky you are that he doesn't want to press charges?"

Judging by the complete lack of gratitude on Roman's face, he did not care how lucky he was that Cass didn't want to press charges.

Giving up, Kurt turned to Dean, who was still gaping at Roman, "I take it you did not participate in this... barbaric act."

Dean finally turned to Kurt, "Uh... I... yes," he cleared his throat, "I did... uh... participate."

"No he didn't," Roman scoffed, knowing that Dean was trying to cover for him, "Whatever punishment you're gonna give me, Dean had nothing to do with it."

Dean opened his mouth to protest, but Roman stopped him with a look.

Kurt's eyes hardened, "Aren't you even sorry?"

Roman glared "you don't know what he-"

"I don't care!" Kurt finally burst, "I don't care what he did or what he said! You can't just assault people when they do something you don't like, Roman! That's not how life works!"

Roman just grit his teeth, deciding, for once, to keep his emotions in check.

Kurt just shook his head, "As much as I would love to, I won't punish you. Cass made it very clear that he didn't want me to punish you."

Roman raised an eyebrow.

"His only request," Kurt swallowed, as if his next sentence was painful, "His only request... is a match. A street fight. At Summerslam."

Roman shrugged, "Bring it on,"

"Not with you," said Kurt quickly, "With Enzo."

Dean's head snapped from Roman to Kurt, "What? No."

"Absolutely not." scoffed Roman.

"I'm not finished," Kurt held his hand up.

Roman really didn't care what else he had to say. Neither did Dean.

"No." Dean all but growled, "We're not about to stand backstage and watch as Enzo gets hurt again."

"Damn fucking straight," snarled Roman.

Kurt had to admit, their sudden protectiveness surprised him, which made his next statement even harder to say.

"You won't be backstage," he said, his eyes switching from Dean to Roman, "You'll both be in a shark cage, 20 feet above the ring."

:::

Enzo had been walking backstage minding his own business when Billy the backstage guy told him to see the General Manager.

He'd spent most of his time in the arena looking for Corey. the man was actually doing a very good job avoiding him. Which was probably for the best because Enzo knew that he wouldn't be able to resist torturing him a bit more.

He eventually had to give up and go to Angle. He walked in the direction of Kurt's office, however, as he got closer, he frowned, hearing voices shouting.

This wasn't an uncommon thing in a WWE arena, but theses voices he recognized. And they were coming from the direction in which he was going. By the time he reached the door marked, 'Kurt Angle, General Manager', the voices were piercing. He didn't even really hear words, just a lot of yelling. He opened the door slowly and poked his head through.

Kurt Angle was sitting at his desk with his head in his hands while Roman and Dean were baring down on him like bears, yelling what seemed to be a lot of abuse.

Enzo cleared his throat, "Uh... should I come back?"

Kurt looked up... and was Enzo seeing things, or did he almost look... sad?

"Amore," he said softly, "Come in."

Kurt watched wearily as Enzo walked in, but what really caught his eye was the way Reigns and Ambrose's faces changed completely when they saw him. The utter rage and anger that was directed at him a second ago turned to a fierce protectiveness as they both stepped in front of the smaller man.

"You're out of your goddamn mind if you think we're gonna let that happen,"

"Do you prefer the alternative?" Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"Fuck yeah!" Roman shouted.

"No!" yelled Dean.

Both Kurt and Roman stared at him, "It's one or the other," sighed Kurt.

"No!" Dean yelled again, "None of them! Neither! It's not happening!"

"Yeah... imma come back," Enzo said quietly as he turned around.

"Enzo, stay," said Kurt. he turned to Dean and Roman.

"That will be all, gentlemen."

"Kurt you can't-"

"I'll see you once we air," he said dismissively, "I need to speak with Enzo."

It was obvious that Dean and Roman didn't want to go anywhere, but this was still Kurt Angle, and he was still their boss, so reluctantly, they left. But Kurt had no doubt that they would wait just outside the door until he was done with Enzo.

Once outside the door, Dean's head snapped to Roman, "You told me you hit him," he hissed, "You didn't tell me you broke his fucking face!"

Roman leaned against the wall, head in his head, "That motherfucking asshole," he breathed, "Why couldn't he just want a fight with me? Why does he gotta bring Enzo into this?"

Dean leaned back next to him, "You know why," he sighed through gritted teeth.

"He's wants to punish me." he growled, "By giving us a front row seat while he tortures Enzo." He shook his head.

"We can't... we can't let that happen," said Dean.

"I know,"

"But... but the alternative..."

Roman shook his head, not looking up as he felt Dean's eyes on him, "We're not gonna let you go to jail, Roman."

"No one said anything about jail." he muttered.

"Kurt said that if this match doesn't happen, Cass'll press charges."

"That doesn't mean-"

"Yes it does!" he hissed, "The damage you caused to his face... it counts as a felony. He presses charges and you lose everything Roman. Your job, your life, your everything! Plus you'll be in prison!" he was trying hard not to shout, "I know a little something about prison baby, and trust me, I'm not gonna let you go through that."

"I'll be-"

"So help me god, you better not say 'fine."

Roman's glare shot to Dean, "Well then what do you suggest, Dean? We just let this happen? You want us to hang over the ring and watch as Cass brutalizes Enzo _again_?"

"Of course not!"

"That what?!"

Before Dean could yell back, the door to Angle's office opened, and Enzo walked out... smiling.

The idiot was fucking smiling.

"Why the hell are you fucking smiling?" Dean couldn't help but spit out.

"I just landed a match at SummerSlam!" he grinned.

"Yeah, we know." snarled Dean, "We're kind of _in_ it. Except we so _aren't._ "

Enzo rolled his eyes, "Oh, is that what ya'll are so upset about? Come on it won't be that bad. I mean, sure it's a street fight, and sure Cass is probably real pissed especially after that match last week, and sure no rules means he can do whatever the hell he wants to me, and yeah, ya'll are gon' be in a shark cage way above the ring and..." he paused, "Where was I going with this? I had a point."

Roman looked at him for a long time, honestly not understanding how the hell this guy's mind worked.

"I need... I need to sit." he sighed, "Before I kick someone's head off."

He turned around, holding a hand to his head as he tried to process.

Dean's 'processing' was a lot more physical, seeing as he punched or kicked the wall every few steps.

Enzo hardly noticed any of this, he was far too busy talking himself up for the upcoming Pay-per-view. Dean and Roman listened and silently disagreed with everything he was saying, because none of this sounded fun to them. When they finally got to the cafeteria, Enzo had somehow managed to change topics completely, an somehow he was now talking about why Shark cages were called shake cages instead of human cages.

Before they could make it to a table, Enzo stopped talking abruptly. Dean and Roman stopped to look at him with frowns, because Enzo not-talking wasn't something that happened often. They saw his wide eyes staring at something behind them, and when the others followed his gaze, they saw what had caught his attention.

"What the hell happened to him?" he gasped when he saw Big Cass, face hidden under a cap, but still obviously injured.

Dean snarled, "Well obviously it's-"

"None of our business." Roman cut in, "because we have no clue."

He gave Dean a pointed look that clearly said 'you better shut your mouth'.

"No but... but he's... who did that? He looks real hurt maybe I should-" he stopped abruptly.

Roman blinked, "Maybe you should... what?"

Enzo shook his head, "nothing. Nothing I was just... he looks hurt."

"You... you sound worried," said Dean.

"What? What no. No I'm not I'm just... just curious. that's all."

Dean and Roman inwardly sighed. They didn't even have to look at each other to know they were thinking the same thing.

Curious huh...

Yeah, they knew how that worked.

Enzo was 'curious' about Cass's injury just as they had been 'curious' whenever Seth got hurt.

You know, way back then. When they were dumb enough to care. And all that that 'curiosity' got them was a spit in the face every time Seth showed them just how much he didn't give a damn.

Dean and Roman shared a glance over Enzo's head as he stared at Cass.

They didn't want Enzo's curiosity to hurt him anymore than he already was.

"Enzo-" started Dean.

Already knowing what they were gonna say, Enzo dragged his eyes away and shook his head, "Im'ma catch up with ya'll later, I gotta go to the locker room and... do something."

He turned quickly and walked in the opposite direction.

Roman looked after him shaking his head. He turned his head, looking back at Cass and his busted up face. The face that Roman had busted up.

On any other occasion, the sight would have been a happy one. But now, after seeing Enzo upset like this, Roman kinda wished he hadn't done it.


	15. Broken Baggage

**I don't even have an excuse. I just suck. A lot.**

 **I've had a few PM's asking if I'm dead. I am not. I just have a lot of jobs that I really have to commit to and let me tell you, the night shift isn't easy especially if you've also got the day shift because _BILLS_ which is the worst part of adult life, except the part where _everyone_ does drugs and I really mean _everyone_ (almost) and it's really hard saying no to drugs at a party when everyone else is doing it.**

 _ **(But still, say NO to peer pressure kids. That's what Roman would do)**_

 **So anyway, back to my incompetence as a writer...**

 **Sorry.**

 **And as I beg for your forgiveness, here is Chapter 15.**

 **I'm gonna shut up now so you can start reading.**

 **-Leeh**

 **:::**

Roman sighed as he sat on one of the big backstage boxes. He was squeezing the bridge of his nose with eyes squeezed shut, trying to stop the beginnings of a headache.

He was so done with this night, and they weren't even halfway through it.

He couldn't remember the last time he felt so damn mad. He couldn't understand why Kurt was letting Cass make a match like this. And he also couldn't understand why Dean wouldn't let Cass just press the fucking charges. And he also didn't understand why Enzo was just letting this match happen.

He didn't get why Enzo was so cool with this.

But still, whatever happened after this, Roman knew that he and Dean could deal with it.

But hanging from a cage and watching Enzo get beat up...

No. That, they could not deal with.

They wouldn't.

Now if only there was something he could do about it.

Roman let out a long sigh.

He had taken a step out of the locker room to find a quiet spot and calm down, but it wasn't working that well because here he was, thinking himself into a headache. Dean was doing the same thing back at the locker room. When Roman left, he was glaring intensely at his gym bag. Luckily, most people knew to leave Dean Ambrose alone when he was glaring that intensely at something, so Roman wasn't worried about anyone bothering him.

What did worry him was the fact that neither of them had seen Enzo since the cafeteria.

The look on his face when he saw Cass's face made Roman inwardly cringe. He didn't like that look on Enzo's face. Especially not towards Colin Cassady.

Cass didn't deserve the shit under Enzo's shoe, never mind Enzo's concern. So why didn't Enzo see the same thing? Roman would have loved to tell Enzo this, but where the hell was he? He probably shouldn't be alone if he was feeling upset, so why did he walk away from Roman and Dean? Who else was he going to talk to?

...Probably his new secret lover.

Roman let out another growl. Great, now he had something else to be mad about.

:::

Dean hadn't moved in a long time. Well, of course he'd _moved_. Come on, he was Dean Ambrose, he didn't know how _not_ to move. His leg was shaking like it was possessed, his shoulder couldn't stop twitching, and his teeth were grinding so hard his gums were screaming.

So in that sense, he had moved. But he had been sitting on this spot for about a half hour looking at that gym back.

Dean was hoping that if he glared long enough, then the bag would catch fire. Because if that happened, then he could have an excuse to bash it against the wall over and over again until it was nothing but a pile of shredded fabric.

Then he could pretend that the fabric was actually Colin Cassady's head. Yeah, that would probably make Dean happy.

Or at the very least, it would make him slightly less murderous.

So he would stare at the back until it caught fire. It sounded like a damn good plan in his book.

But then some idiot came along and kicked the fucking bag away.

Dean's eyes didn't move.

"Oh I'm sorry Ambrose, did I disturb you?"

The laughing voice belonged to Bo Dallas. Dean kinda felt sorry for him, he wouldn't be laughing so hard if he knew that he was about to die...

"Ambrose." Dallas sang. The next thing Dean knew, fingers were snapping right by his face, "Hey, earth to lunatic!"

This time, Dean's eyes did move. He looked up, and there stood Dallas, looking stupid as ever, with Curtis Axel standing behind him with crossed arms and a self satisfied smirk. The Miz stood behind them, the Intercontinental Championship dropped over his shoulder and his indoor shades perched on his nose.

Three idiots standing in front of a pissed off Dean Ambrose...

Interesting...

"Im'ma give you douchwads three seconds to get the hell out of my face."

The Miz's smirk just widened, "There's three of us and one of you, Ambrose. What are you gonna do? Or do you want a repeat of Great Balls of Fire,"

Dean looked over at the bag he had been glaring at. Well, he hadn't been able to smash that bag, perhaps an impromptu beat down would make him feel better.

He stood up to his full height, "Your three seconds are almost up." He said slowly.

They still didn't move, but Dean did notice that as soon as he stood up, the locker room all but emptied. Looked like the rest of the Roster were lot smarter than the Miztourage. Besides them and Dean, the only person in the room was Carl the camera man, because this guy was fucking _everywhere._

And also... Seth Rollins.

Honestly, Dean didn't care about the last two. All he cared about was the three in front of him that he couldn't wait to beat up.

However, on the other side of the arena, two faces looked up at a hallway screen and saw the locker room, and in it, Dean Ambrose. Surrounded. He didn't seem that bothered by it, but they knew better, and they ran.

"You can't possibly be stupid enough to pick a fight with the three of us." Miz scoffed, "Again."

Dean narrowed his eyes at him, "Then you must not know me very well,"

Miz had just enough time to let out a snort before a mass of crazy tackled him to the floor. As predicted, Dallas and Curtis were on Dean immediately, but his flailing punches kept them from getting too close. But as law would have it, the numbers always won in the end, and soon enough, the Miztourage were landing kicks on Dean wherever they could reach.

And then... it stopped. One minute Dean was being pummeled,and the next, they were off him. He gave himself about a split second to thank god that Roman got here just in time before he was up and helping him with the three idiots. Together, they managed to back them up enough for them to hightail it out of there. With a pleased grin, Dean turned to Roman for celebratory fist bump, but the grin fell fight off when he saw that... it wasn't Roman.

He glared at Rollins, "What the hell was that about?"

Seth blinked at him, "Uh... you're welcome?"

Before Dean could reply,the door flew open, Roman crashing through with his fist already raised. What he saw in the room was not what he was expecting. He looked from Dean to Seth and the cleared room.

He blinked, and then cleared his throat as he turned to Dean, "You okay?" he asked. Of course he wasnted to say moer. Or check him over and make sure he ws really okay, but he wasalso very concious of Carl the camera guy standing right there, so he had to suffice with 'you okay'.

Again, there was a clattering at the door before Dean could answer. Enzo ran through the door looking about ready to jump on someone. He stopped abruptly when he couldn't find anyone to pounce on.

"Damn, I missed it, What happened to the Miztourage?"

Before anyone could answer, Seth scoffed, "What are you doing here?" he frowned at Enzo.

Almost immediately, Dean stepped in front of Enzo, glaring at Seth, "What are _you_ doing here, Rollins?"

Seth blinked, "I just helped you out when-"

"Yeah I didn't ask for your help," Dean cut in, "I got plenty of backup that I can actually trust."

Seth lifted his chin, not breaking eye contact with Dean, but eventually, the glare from the taller man became too much. He looked away, sniffed defiantly, and walked out the door.

Before another word could be spoken, Carl the camera guy cleared his throat. He lowered the camera slowly, "Well that was awkward." he said.

Dean, Roman and Enzo just stared at him. He cleared his throat again, "Okay, I'll go now."

Only when they were the only ones in the room did Roman make a move towards Dean, "Why do you gotta pick these fights all the time," he sighed, sitting him down and looking him over.

Dean kept swatting his hands away and rolling his eyes, "Hey, don't blame me. Dallas kicked my bag. Was I supposed to just let that slide?"

Roman just looked at him with weary eyes, "You're gonna be the death of me, you know that?"

Dean scoffed, "Actually, _he's_ gonna be the death of you." he pointed an accusing finger at Enzo.

Enzo froze by the door, "What? What did _I_ do?"

"Where the hell have you been all night?" demanded Dean.

"Yeah," Roman glared, his focus shifting, "I've been looking for you everywhere."

"I was just walking around." he shrugged, "No biggie."

Dean and Roman scoffed, looking at each other then back at Enzo.

"Just walking around? _"_ Roman spat.

"Yep."

"Amore-"

"Hey!" he put his hands up, "He's the one who attacked The Miztourage by himself,"

Dean glared, "We ain't talking about me right now. Besides, I had help. You know, if you can count Rollins as help."

"Well you're gonna have to."

The three turned around at the new addition to the conversation. Kurt Angle stood leaning by the door with his arms crossed. It kinda made them wonder how long he'd been standing there.

"We're not even half way through the night," he said wearily, "And I'm speaking with you three. Again."

He shook his head, and Roman cleared his throat, "Uh, this time it was just Dean." he ignored the glare he got and Kurt shook his head in defeat.

"Alright, whatever. Ambrose, you have a match tonight. I suggest you go get ready." Dean punched the air,

"Miztourage, right?"

Kurt nodded.

"See Roman? I can take on three. Kurt has faith in me."

Kurt scoffed, "It's a tag match you idiot. It's The Miz, Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas against you and Seth Rollins.

"What?" Dean spat, "No."

"Ambrose-"

"I am not fighting with Rollins."

"Told you he wouldn't go for it," suddenly there was another voice in the conversation, and Seth Rollins stepped into view behind Kurt.

Kurt held his head in his hand. "Did you see the crowd reaction when he helped you with the Miztourage? They loved it. This match is gonna main event RAW, so I suggest you two talk and learn how to work together."

"I don't-"

"I don't care that you don't want to, Ambrose." said Kurt as he turned around, "So I suggest you two get your shit together and learn how to be a team again."

And then he was gone. Leaving Seth, Dean, Enzo and Roman.

Seth sighed, "Alright Ambrose, I get that you're not my biggest fan right now."

"No shit," scoffed Dean.

Seth pretended not to hear him, "But tonight, it's not about that, alright? Tonight, in that ring, we got three guys to worry about, so we gotta watch each others' backs. So what do you say, we good?"

For a long time, Dean didn't say anything. No one did. Dean finally sighed softly, and then made his way over to Seth. When he got close, he stopped, face quite close to Seth.

"Let's get this straight, Rollins." he said quietly, "We ain't a team. Not anymore. The only team I need is standing behind me right now. Just 'cause we're on the same side tonight don't mean nothing. You may have three guys to worry bout tonight, but me? I gotta worry about four."

With that, he brushed past Seth and marched down the hallway. Seth didn't move, just watched the space where Dean had been. Roman nudged Enzo and gestured for him to follow as he quickly took off after Dean. Enzo did, but not before he got a good look at Seth's face. And to be honest, he did not like what he saw. He knew Seth Rollins as arrogant and entitled. But he didn't really want to see him looking sad. Seth looked at Enzo and frowned as he walked past.

"Why is he calling you?" he asked genuinely.

Enzo stopped and turned back around, "Becasue Dean needs a friend," he said simply.

"And that's you?"

The question wasn't even rude. Or condescending. He just wanted to know.

"Yes," answered Enzo, "Yeah, that's me."

:::

Roman caught up to Dean before he could even turn a corner. He was already muttering to himself and clenching and unclenching his fists in the way that told Roman to calm him down now before things got ugly. He took his arm gently, and as soon as Dean turned to him, he let his head fall to Roman's chest.

"I do not want to fight with him Roman, I don't."

"I know. I know baby."

"How the hell am I supposed to just team up with him?" he looked up at Roman, and Roman hated to see the ghost of Seth's betrayal still there. He hated seeing that, and he knew that Dean hated showing that.

"I don't want to fight with him Ro."

When Enzo finally caught up, Roman had a hand rubbing up and down Dean's back while Dean ranted about why he didn't understand why Kurt thought he needed help in the ring. Because he so didn't. Enzo could tell that Roman completely disagreed, but he kept rubbing nonetheless.

The way they stood so close together and the way Roman comforted Dean made Enzo's heart skip a beat. It also kinda made him really sad because... well, he wanted to be a part of that and he knew couldn't. He never would.

As he stood there, only a few feet away, but still completely unnoticed, Enzo sighed softly. He turned around quietly, opting to give them the space they needed, no matter how much it was hurting him to do so.

As he walked the halls he kept trying to keep his mind off the two people he was walking away from, but it was proving quite impossible. He needed something. A distraction. Something to help him forget.

Or... or some _one._

The thought came to him suddenly, causing him to stop abruptly in the middle of the hallway. He knew exactly what he needed. Without another thought, Enzo turned around and hurried to his distraction.

:::

Enzo didn't realise how stupid he was being until he was actually knocking on the door marked 'Corey Graves'. He stood there for a few seconds before shaking his head. He was about to turn around when the door opened. He looked at Corey and blinked.

"How ya doin'?" he said with a nod. Corey blinked. Twice. He sighed and moved away from the door. A clear indication to come in. Enzo raised his eyebrows at that, but still went inside before Corey could change his mind.

He looked around the room and couldn't help but be kinda jealous. This dressing room was way better than the locker room. It was about the same size and Corey had it to himself. There was a desk with an open computer on it, a biggish kinda refrigerator, and a a big couch pushed up against the wall. The middle of the room was mainly gym equipment, and there an open cupboard with all of Corey's suits.

Once Enzo was done with his tour, he looked back at Corey, who was still standing by the door and looking at him weird. Enzo just looked back.

"Why did you come here?" he finally asked.

Enzo pursed his lips and shrugged, "Why'd you let me in?"

Corey thought for a while, and he honestly couldn't think of an answer, so he just sighed and went back to his chair. He was only a little surprised when Enzo followed him. He stood behind Corey's chair, looking over his shoulder as he typed.

"Soo... whatcha doin'?"

Corey sighed again, snapping his laptop shut.

"Don't you have someone else to irritate? Where're Ambrose and Reigns?"

Enzo shrugged, "I wanna chill with you."

"We are not friends, Amore."

"I know that," he rolled his eyes, "I ain't asking to be you _friend_."

Corey's eyes narrowed and for a while he didn't say anything.

"You're kidding me."

"Come on, you gotta admit, last night was-"

"A fluke." he interrupted, "And we were drunk,"

"Yeah well you know what they say Graves. Stuff you don't when you're drunk is... stuff you should do... all the time."

Corey looked at him like he was insane, "Nobody says that."

"Yeah well they should."

"That... that's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

Enzo groaned and slapped his hand to his head. This was not going his way. Guess he'd have to try a different approach.

He grabbed the back of Corey's chair and spun it around, eliciting a surprised yelp from the man on the chair.

"What the-" he stopped talking abruptly when Enzo bent down, grabbing the arms of he chair and bringing his face close to Corey's.

Incredibly close.

"Okay Graves, time for plan B"

"Plan B?"

"I tried to talk some sense into you and you didn't bite-"

"You call this sense?!"

"-So instead," he continued, "I'm gonna seduce you,"

"You're going to-"

Enzo didn't let him finish his sentence. The next thing Corey knew, Enzo's face was getting closer and closer to his. He thought he was about to kiss him, but instead of going for Corey's lips, Enzo's face went straight to his exposed neck.

"We may have been drunk last night Graves," he said softly, "But I still remember exactly what you like."

Corey scoffed, "Enzo this is insane. You're being-" he stopped with a gasp as he felt the tip of a couch tongue drag up his neck, stopping just under his ear. He could almost feel the self satisfied grin on Enzo's face, and all he wanted to do was wipe it off, but... damn that felt good.

"We..." he cleared his throat, "We really... shouldn't."

Enzo hummed, his lips still pressed against Corey's skin, just under his ear, "You sure?"

 _Yes Corey, of course you're sure!_ He yelled at himself

He opened his mouth to say it out loud, but at that exact moment, Enzo bit down on his ear lobe and all that came out was a choking gasp.

 _For god's sake Corey!_

"Just think about it," breathed Enzo again, "Ain't nothing wrong with a little bit of fun."

 _There is plenty wrong with this kind of fun, Corey!_

"You enjoyed last night as much as I did, Graves, we both know it." Enzo pulled Corey's chair a bit closer, so he was an inch away from sitting on Corey's lap.

 _Just push him away Corey. Just fucking push him away._

Amore's hand went up, grabbing the back of Corey's throat softly, "Let's have some fun, Corey,"

 _Nope. Not happening. Get him away Corey._

Finally deciding to listen to himself, Corey's hands went up to push him away. But somehow, instead of pushing, his hands grabbed at Enzo's hips and pulled him down.

He swatted away his subconscious, deciding that thinking was too hard right now. Instead, his grip on Enzo's thighs tightened as he pulled him even closer. That's all Enzo needed, and his mouth went immediately from Corey's neck to his lips.

 _Dammit Corey._

:::

"Ambrose," Dean looked up from his bucket of popcorn and was unsurprising to see that ever disapproving look on Kurt Angles face.

"What?" he said through a mouthful.

"You have a match in less that 10 minutes. Most people use that time to prepare themselves and you're stuffing your face with popcorn?"

Dean shrugged as he grabbed another handful, "I don't need to prepare, it's Seth. I know how to fight with Seth, we used to me team-mates, remember? Key words, _used to be._ Until you decided to open up old wounds!"

Kurt just let out a long breath to keep himself from slapping someone,

"Dean, where is Roman?" Kurt was sure he could at least talk some sense into his boyfriend, but Dean shrugged.

"He was being annoying so I sent him away."

"Annoying?"

"Yeah, he kept telling me to talk to Seth before the match. Which is the dumbest advice he's ever given. So I told him to go away" he gave a little sigh and then looked up at Kurt, "I want him back now, could you go find him?"

"Ex-excuse me? I am your General Manager not some-"

"Thanks Kurt. He's probably in the gym or something. If you run you can get him before my match."

"I-"

"Thanks Kurt!" he said again, with a finality in his voice that was obviously a dismissal.

With another huffing breath, Kurt stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him and muttering about Ambrose and his lack of respect and how he was the damn boss not some runner.

In the end, Kurt didn't have to look for Roman. He found him as soon as he turned the corner.

"He still sulking?" Roman asked Kurt.

"Of course he is. But he's asking for you, so fix him before the match starts, all right?" Kurt kept walking, still muttering as he went.

Roman went over to the door he knew dean was behind and knocked once before going in.

"Well that was quick."

"I was standing outside."

Dean sighed softly, he should have known. "Sorry I kicked you out," he said quietly, "I was brooding."

Roman gave a small scoff, "Yeah right, you just didn't wanna share the popcorn."

Dean's lip quirked up and Roman knew that he'd be okay. He went to sit next to Dean. So close their arms pressed hard together.

"It's just one match," said Roman, "And you know you're gonna win."

"Of course we're gonna win," said Dean, "It's Seth, we're great together."

He cursed softly at his words. He grabbed a handful of popcorn, " _were_ great together." he mumbled before shoving the handful into his mouth.

Roman sighed again, winding his arm around Dean's shoulder, "Your match is in ten minutes. You're gonna get a stitch if you keep stuffing your face."

Dean grunted that he didn't care, but he put the popcorn down nonetheless. He chewed everything in his mouth, all the while Roman rubbing his arm gently.

"Alright," he finally spoke, "Let's get this over with."

He stood up and held his hand out to pull Roman up with him. The two left the room, and immediately almost got barreled over.

Enzo stopped running just in time. "Oh there you are!" he said, "I thought you'd already be by the gorilla by now."

"On our way," said Dean.

"And where have you been?" Roman crossed his arms. It felt like he asked Enzo this question way too much.

"I was... I was busy." Enzo said, clearing his throat.

Dean raised his eyebrows and Roman scoffed, but before they could call him out on his bullshit, Bianca the backstage girl came around the corner at a run.

"Ambrose you're late!" she yelled, "Why the hell are you always late!"

She didn't stop running as she approached them, only grabbed Dean's arm and dragged him along with her.

Once they turned another corner, Roman's attention went back to Enzo. He frowned at him as he looked him over. Enzo didn't miss the look, and cleared his throat.

"Well, let's go. We're gonna watch the match right? The screen closest to the gorilla is really good."

He started walking before Roman could answer, and he had no choice but to follow. But still Roman looked him over with narrowed eyes.

Something was weird.

Enzo's hair was a real mess. Well, it was always a mess, but now it looked rough, almost as if he had been in a fight. And his top... his top was inside out. Actually, it could've just been a weird top, Enzo had a lot of those. But no, most tops didn't have a deep neck line at the back... right?

And he was walking weird. Real weird. almost as if he was injured, Like his foot hurt. Or maybe his leg, or his... his...

Roman blinked.

Oh.

 _Oh._

"Could you stop looking at me like that? It's... it's getting weird."

Roman's eyes only narrowed some more.

"You were having sex!"

Enzo stopped, "I.. uh... I- what?"

"With your guy from yesterday!" Roman almost slapped himself, wondering why he hadn't figured it out earlier, "that's where you keep disappearing to!"

"Um... I don't... I-"

"So who is it?"

The sudden question made Enzo gulp, "huh?"

"This guy you keep sneaking out to see. Your new boyfriend." The word 'boyfriend' was said in such a bitter tone, even Roman had to wonder where that came from.

Enzo scoffed, "He is not my boyfriend,"

Roman snapped his fingers, pointing to Enzo's face., "So you admit there's something going on."

"Uh-"

"Look if you're in a relationship, you have absolutely no reason to hide it from us. We're totally supportive and shit."

Enzo blinked, "Relationship?" he let himself think for a moment, imagining being in an actual relationship with Corey Graves. The thought made him laugh.

"Roman, this is the furthest thing from a relationship you can ever get."

"Well then why are you hiding it?"

Enzo narrowed his eyes at him, wondering why the hell he cared so much about Enzo's sex life. Strangely enough, Roman was wondering the exact same thing.

He shook his head of the thought and turned towards Enzo, grabbing him by the shoulders and forcing him to look at him.

"Just- I just wanna know who it is!"

Enzo sighed at him. He was all ready to keep defending his secret, but now... Roman was looking at him and his eyes were all wide and his hands were gripping Enzo's shoulders and... and Enzo needed him to stop before he did something stupid like start drooling.

"Okay fine."

"Yes!" Roman punched the air, finally letting go of Enzo's shoulders. The loss of the touch made Enzo a strange cross between relieved and disappointed.

"Okay," Enzo started, looking around to make sure that they were alone in the hallway, "Im'ma tell ya. But you gotta promise you won't say anything to anyone."

"Yeah, sure."

"I mean _anyone_. Especially not him because if he finds out I told anyone he will skin me alive."

"Sure, I won't tell, now who is-"

"Like, if anyone finds out Roman, It will be a complete disaster."

"Okay I get-"

"Which means when I tell you-"

"Enzo who is it!"

"Okay!" Enzo held his hands up, "Alright, I'm tellin' ya." he took a deep breath, looking around again.

"The person I've been sneaking off to see is-"

" _And this is a two on three tag team match scheduled for one fall!"_ They were interrupted by the announcer's voice over the intercom.

"Oh we're late!" said Enzo, "too bad, I'll tell ya later."

Roman watched with wide eyes and a dropped jaw as Enzo took off towards the gorilla.

He followed him with an annoyed huff, but it was quickly followed by the pang in his chest that reminded him that Dean was about to go into the ring with Seth for the first time in years. Dean needed him right now, even though he wouldn't see Roman, the knowledge that he was watching would help. Roman knew it. By the time they got to the screen room, both Seth and Dean were already in the ring, Seth behind Dean, obviously trying to talk strategy, and Dean looking straight ahead, his hands flexing and his shoulder twitching.

Roman didn't even realise how hard he was staring at the screen until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Stop worrying." said Enzo softly, "I know that it don't seem like it right now, but he's a pro. He ain't gonna let Seth get in the way of kicking some Miztourage ass."

Roman nodded. "Yeah.. yeah, you're right."

He knew Enzo was right. He knew it, but still. Dean was in there for the first time in years, fighting with the guy who stabbed them both in the back. He could worry. Just a little.

Just... a little.

Without even thinking about it, Roman's hand went up to the one on his shoulder and gripped Enzo's hand tight.

"Yeah, I know. You're right."

If he was being completely honest, Enzo didn't even know what he was right about anymore. Because Roman... Roman was holding his hand.

He was holding his fucking hand.

Enzo was really damn glad that he was standing behind him, because he would really hate if Roman could see the stupid, open mouthed look on his face at that moment.

It took Roman only a few seconds to realise what he was doing.

He was... he was kinda holding Enzo's hand.

He was... holding Enzo's hand.

Why was he doing that?

And more importantly, why wasn't he letting go?

The both of them stood there for a few seconds, although it felt a lot longer, both wondering why the hell Roman was holding Enzo's hand.

The trance was finally broken when the bell rang, and the match started.

Roman's hand left Enzo's quicker than when it got there, as Dean faced off with The Miz. Both their attention went immediately to the screen, but still, at the back of their heads, they were wondering why their hands were tingling.

:::

Enzo was sitting in the hotel balcony.

It was hours after the end of RAW, and he should have been sleeping, but instead, he was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall with a half empty bottle of Jack by his side. He knew that he shouldn't, but hey, he kinda deserved it after such a long night, right?

Right.

He leaned his head against the wall with a sigh.

Enzo had a lot to stress about. Like the fact that he had now had sex with Corey Graves, a man who clearly disliked him, twice. And the fact that for a few precious seconds, he had felt what it was like to hold Roman Reigns' hand. and the fact that for hours after his match, he had gladly listened to Dean complain about how much he still hated Seth Rollins, even after they had worked so well together. And the fact that just afterwards, he had watched Roman comfort Dean with a passionate kiss. And the fact that while that happened, Enzo had looked on with absolute envy, and equally strong arousal. and the fact that with every passing second, he could feel his feelings for his travel buddies grow. And let's not forget the fact that his travel buddies were actually in a very loving relationship,and were probably doing unspeakable things to each other on the bed right this minute.

And especially the fact that right now, more than anything, Enzo just wanted to watch them.

So yeah, he kinda deserved some peace with a bottle of Jack.

He shook his head again, taking yet another swig from the bottle. This was getting out of hand. His thoughts were getting way out of hand and he needed to stop.

He shook his head, resisting the strong urge to slap himself. God knows, he really deserved a damn slap in the face to bring bring himself back to reality.

With a long sigh, Enzo pushed himself up off the floor. He was surprised by how hard it was to get up, and how dizzy he was when he did, but then he saw that the bottle was already half finished. He sighed again. Okay, no more Jack Daniels. Ever.

He dragged his feet to the edge of the balcony and leaned over, holding his head. He didn't know why he always felt like crap these days. no one else was feeling like crap. Right this moment, Dean and Roman were probably having a great time in bed together...

Right, that's why he felt like crap.

Forgetting his resolve, Enzo grabbed the bottle again and took another swig.

The final swig. Because no more Jack.

He didn't know how much longer he stood out there. He would have stood there all night if it weren't for Dean.

"Enzo?" he said quietly as he stepped out onto the balcony, "You've been standing here for hours. You okay?"

Enzo turned around and managed a tight lipped smile, "I'm good."

Dean just sighed softly at him, "I don't know why you bother trying to lie."

Enzo let out a chuckle, "Yeah, me neither."

They stood there in the balcony, Dean looking Enzo over, his head tilted to the side, "What's eating you?"

Enzo just crossed his arms and shrugged. Dean knew that that was all he was going to get, and he also knew not to push. So he didn't.

Instead, he did what Roman would do.

"Come here," he said, opening his arms.

Enzo raised his eyebrow, "What?"

Dean gestured him over, "Come on, bring it in."

"You... you don't hug, Dean."

"Well I do tonight."

When Enzo still didn't make a move towards him, Dean decided to do it for him. He went over to him and pulled him in for a hug, holding on tightly.

Now it was true, Dean wasn't a hugger. The only people he let get that close to him were little Jojo and Roman. Sure he'd get hugs from Gina and Roman's mom, and sometimes Jimmy and Jey, but during those, he usually couldn't wait until he got out of it.

But this time... this time, when Enzo sighed into his chest and uncrossed his arms to wind them around Dean's back, he found that... he didn't want to move.

Dean stood there with his chin on Enzo's head and a frown on his face. Why was he not hating this? He didn't like hugs. Only Roman's. But Roman's hugs and Enzo's hugs were different.

Right?

Yes, yes they were. So why hadn't he let go yet? Were hugs supposed to go on this long? Was it weird that he was closing his eyes and sniffing his hair? The only person whose hair he sniffed was Roman's. But Roman was different.

Right?

Yes. Right. Because Dean loved Roman, and Enzo was...

He cleared his throat and mentally slapped himself.

"Alright you good? Okay, try get some sleep, okay? Okay."

He turned around and went back inside. As he made for the bedroom, Dean shook his head. Hugging was complicated. He wasn't going to do that anymore.

:::

Back at the balcony, Enzo's eyes were still closed, and for a second he pretended that Dean was still there. Still holding him like that. That Dean was still...

Enzo snapped his eyes open and shook his head. This was pathetic. He was being pathetic.

It was a hug between friends, and here Enzo was, dwelling on it and being all... pathetic.

Before he knew it, he was making another move for the bottle of whiskey, but he stopped himself. He couldn't keep drinking every time he felt like this, because he had a feeling that he would definitely be feeling like this a lot in the near future.

He passed the bottle and went back inside, but he still couldn't bring himself to go to bed. The bed that was right beside Dean and Roman's bed. Where the two of them were together and cuddled up and in love...

No. No he had to stop thinking like that. Because the thought of them in bed made him equal amounts of insanely jealous and unbelievably horny.

He needed to get out of this hotel room before he suffocated. He made towards the door, "I'm gong to get some food!" he yelled towards the room, "Text me what you want!" and then he was gone.

In the other room, Dean and Roman looked up from their game of cards.

"What did he say?" frowned Dean.

"Something about food, I think."

"It's the early hours of the morning, what's he gonna get?"

"Taco Bell," said Roman's immediately. His eyes lit up as he grabbed his phone to tell Enzo about Taco Bell, "You don't think he took the car do you?"

Dean sighed, "He definitely took the car," and then he frowned, "Unless..."

"What? Unless what?"

Dean snarled bitterly, "Unless he'd gonna get his secret lover to drive him."

Roman looked up at Dean with a glare, "Are you trying to put me in a bad mood,"

"I don't wanna be mad by myself," he shrugged.

Roman's glare just strengthened as he snatched his card back up. They carried on with their game, but this time, both of them with the image of Enzo and his fuck buddy in their mind.

Neither of them seemed to realise that their anger at this situation made no sense. No sense at all.

:::

Enzo struggled with the takeout as he went from the cab, through the hotel doors, and onto the elevator. Only once the doors were closed and he had pressed the button to the top floor did he realise that he wasn't alone in there.

Great. just what he needed.

"Amore," Seth Rollins said lazily as he leaned against the wall. No 'hello,' no 'how are you', not even an offer to help with the packs that were so obviously too much for Enzo's arms.

"Rollins," he said back.

Seth eyed the packs in his hands and the corner of his mouth tilted up.

"Taco Bell," he said, "Let me guess, Roman's choice."

Enzo didn't have to answer.

"Supersize Burrito will all the fillings. Times two," said Seth, "And the rest is for Dean because he couldn't decide."

Enzo just looked at him. Seth nodded.

"A lot changes in three years," he said, "but not those boys and their food."

It almost seemed like he was talking to himself, hardly even acknowledging Enzo anymore as he stared at the takeout.

Seth sighed, "You're with Dean and Roman now," he said matter of factly, "For... for good."

Enzo shrugged, knowing that he didn't want an answer.

"You're... you're travelling with them? Staying with them?"

"Yeah. You know what that's like, remember?" said Enzo, not able to help himself.

Seth just grit his teeth. He still hadn't looked at Enzo.

"So you like... met Jojo and everything?"

Enzo tilted his head a bit, "Yeah I met Jojo. Jojo's my best friend. We have a handshake and everything."

Seth nodded again, a small smile gracing his lips, "Yeah, I bet you do."

"She's great," Enzo said, knowing that he was goading him and knowing that he had to stop, and also knowing that he wouldn't, "You know how great she is." he shrugged, "You know how great they are."

Seth knew that he was talking about Dean and Roman. And yeah, Seth fucking knew how great they were.

"Listen," he said quietly, "You're with them now. You're gonna want to keep it that way so... so don't do anything stupid, okay?"

Enzo narrowed his eyes, "You mean stupid like what you did?"

Enzo knew now that he had gone too far. He expected a snarl at that, or an equal jab back, or even a punch in the face.

But Seth only sighed and looked down.

"Yeah," he said, "stupid like me."

At that Enzo was speechless. The quiet between them drew on for far too long. finally Seth cleared his throat and rubbed a hand over his face. He looked up, "Just... just take care of them Amore, alright?"

It was then that the elevator came to a stop. Seth was out before Enzo could even think of an answer.

:::

 **Well there's Chapter 15. It's late but it's also long so I hope that kinda makes up for it...**

 **Please tell me what you think. Even if you hate it, just let me know. I like knowing things.**

 **Until next time beautiful people (which will hopefully be very soon)**

 **-Leeh**


	16. Broken Flights

**You know at this point, apologizing (again) for my long absence (again) would basically just be an insult to you guys so I won't even try anymore. Just know that I will pay for my sins as a writer and you will be greatly rewarded by the FanFiction gods for your patience**

 **Also, I love you for still reading this.**

 **And also I'm sorry for being so late!**

 **(again)**

:::

At first, Roman thought the sound was gunshots. Dean thought a car was crashing into their hotel room. Either way, they both woke up with a shocked scream.

"What the fuck?!" Roman jumped almost a foot in the air, promptly throwing Dean off their bed.

"What the fuck!" Dean exclaimed as he hit the floor.

In the other bed, Enzo blinked his eyes open as he slowly lifted his head from the pillow.

"It's just my phone, calm down," he muttered as he fumbled around for it in the dark.

Dean stumbled back into the bed glaring, "We gotta do something about that damn ringtone" he growled.

Roman nodded his agreement, still clutching at his heart. They would have loved to go back to sleep, but Enzo's loud voice made it hard as he answered the phone.

"Mama?"

 _"Enzo!"_ the voice on the other end of the line was so loud Enzo had to hold it away from his ear. Even Dean and Roman cold hear her from their distance, _"Did I wake ya baby?"_

"Well, it's 3 a.m Ma. So kinda, yeah."

 _"Well you're awake now."_ she chuckled, " _Now listen, I got good news!"_

"Uh huh?" Enzo yawned.

 _"Yeah! A letter from the government came yesterday but I only opened it now 'cause I thought it might be bomb but-"_

"Wait wait a... a what?"

 _"A letter. from the government. Keep up boy. Now, it was addressed to you but I opened it anyway and I sure am glad I did because if I had to wait for you to come and open it ya never would because you never even come to see me for months at a time because of all your travelling hippie life and-"_

"Mama!" Enzo finally got a word in, "Mama, I just woke up and you're confusing me."

" _Oh yeah,right._ " she cleared her throat. _"They dropped your charges baby! You'e off the no fly list so the government is gonna let you fly again! You know what that means?"_

"I- I'm ... what?"

 _"It means you can get your ass to New Jersey as soon as possible and visit your Mama boy. I'm getting old and I ain't seen you in months."_

"Wait, Mama did you say-"

 _"You can go back to sleep if ya want, but I'll just be here waiting, alright?"_

"I-"

 _"Alright baby, see ya later now."_

She hung up before Enzo could even blink. He looked at his phone for a while after that, his brain trying to catch up with the conversation he had just had.

"You're off the list?"

Enzo blinked up at Dean and grinned, "I'm off the list."

"You know what that means?" grinned Dean, "No more getting up early to drive to te next city!" he whooped, "We can fly!"

Enzo whooped with him, glad to finally be out of the government's watchful eye.

"We can fly?" asked Roman.

"Yeah! Now lets go back to sleep please, I'm exhausted," yawned Dean, "And tomorrow, we fly."

They settled their heads back on the pillows. Well, all except Roman.

"We can fly," he said again. The others were too sleepy to notice the sudden tremble in his voice.

"Yay."

:::

Much later in the morning, Dean and Enzo were starting to stir. Roman hadn't quite managed to go back to sleep. The thought of the approaching flight plaguing his thoughts.

Roman did not like flying. It went completely against the rules of nature, so he really didn't think it should even be allowed. He had to push himself whenever Dean wanted to go cliff diving or something at the beach, because being that far above the ground just wasn't worth the anxiety it brought.

The height of a cliff was a molehill compared to being 30 000 feet above the ground in what was essentially a metal box.

Looking out the window and seeing the clouds below was just plain wrong. Roman knew it was.

Now how could he explain this to Dean and Enzo without sounding like a wimp?

The answer didn't come to him for a long time. Not as the others woke up and got ready, forcing him to so as well. It didn't come while they loaded the car or signed out of the hotel either. He dug through his brain for a proper excuse and it just wouldn't come, so Roman decided instead to grit his teeth and hold his breath until they landed in New Jersey.

That was a completely reasonable plan, right?

Dean and Enzo could tell that Roman was freaking out on the inside. They didn't say anything of course. Dean had told Enzo that mentioning his fear of heights and flying wouldn't help the situation in the least. So they just watched him closely and said nothing.

He was fine on the way to the airport. He was just driving insufferably slow. Part of Enzo wondered if he was trying to miss the flight, but unfortunately for Roman, they arrived with plenty of time to spare.

He was even fine as they made their way inside. As they bought their tickets and checked in and went through customs, and all that junk. Honestly, Enzo was too busy sweating, just waiting for someone to set one of those big dogs on him, to properly pay attention. If he had been, he would have seen that behind Roman's calm exterior, his lips were impossibly dry, and his jaw was so clenched it was a wonder his teeth weren't breaking, and his grip on his bag was so tight his knuckles were turning white.

Dean however, did notice, but he knew from experience that pointing these things out to Roman would get him nothing but multiple "I'm fine"s. So he opted to do nothing but give the occasional rub to his back.

Dean felt incredible grown up at that moment. What with Enzo still stressing about whether or not his name was really off the list, and with Roman's crippling fear, he was kinda holding all of this together. He grinned internally. Felt nice being the responsible one.

Well, at least he thought so, until Enzo walked throuh the scanner and a loud beeping sound rang out from the flashing machine.

"Ah shit," he sighed.

Next to him, however, he could almost see the hope light up in Roman's eyes.

"We're probably gonna miss the flight," he said, trying hard not to smile, "Well too bad we'll just have to drive come on lets go." Dean grabbed his arm as he tried to make a run for it.

"He probably just forgot something in his pockets, Rome. We're gonna make the flight, and you will be fine, alright? Stop worrying so much."

Roman gulped, "I'm not worried. I'm fine."

Dean just held back another sigh and they watched as Enzo was let to the side to be frisked.

"I swear, I got nothing." he was saying loudly, "I'm completely safe you got nothing on me."

"Sir if you'd just spread your arms please."

Enzo did so with a gulp, "I got nothin', I swear." he looked over at Dean and Roman, "Ya'll saw me pack, I'm clean!" and still he was searched. Enzo was just waiting for some man in a suit to come striding up to him, telling him that he had broken his paroled protocol and was being arrested for being near 100 feet of an airport.

But luckily that didn't happen. He just kept beeping. Why the hell was-

"Oh!" he finally said in realization. He looked down at the guard searching him, "You know what it is? It's my piercing."

"I don't see any piercings," the man said stiffly.

"Well, that's 'cause it ain't anywhere you can see." he said pointedly, "And I don't think I'm allowed to show it to you considerin' we're in a public place, you know what I'm saying?"

The guard stiffened and looked at Enzo for a long time, "You're free to go," he said quickly. Enzo grabbed his bag with a grin and made his way over to the others.

Dean gaped at him with a half grin on his face, "You have a dick piercing?"

"I believe the correct term is 'Prince Albert'." shrugged Enzo, "Now come on, we're almost late. "

:::

They made it to the boarding gate just in time. What with a few fans stopping them along the way, and Roman having to stop for a bathroom break every two minutes, and the fact that he was walking slower than anyone was actually allowed to walk, they made it.

But he still insisted that he was so not afraid of flying. Not at all.

The terrible facade finally ended though, once they got to their seats.

"Okay I lied," he hissed to Dean, "I iied, I can't do this we need to get off."

"Rome-"

"Dean we're about to be 30 000 feet in the air in a metal box and we're just gonna hope it doesn't fall and kill us all? Does that make any sense to you? Because to me, it does not!"

He was starting to panic, and Dean bit his lip.

"Roman," he said quietly, "Do you really think I'd let you into this thing if I didn't think it was safe? You're gonna be fine. I won't let anything happen to you."

"This has nothing to do with you!" Roman spat, "We are one bird in the engine away from crasing to the ground, do you realise that? One stray seagull and we're done for!"

"There aren't any seagulls 30 000 feet above the ground Roman," assured Enzo.

"30 000 feet above the ground!" Roman repeated, "Are you hearing yourself? Why are we willingly going so high in the sky when there's a perfectly good road right here on the ground?"

"Roman roads take too long," whined Dean.

"You what else takes too long?" Roman glared at him, "Falling from the sky into the ocean."

"We ain't even anywhere near the ocean. If we fall it'll be on a mountain somewhere."

Dean slapped his hand to his head. "Not helping Enzo!"

Enzo sank down a bit in his chair, making a show of zipping his lips shut.

"Roman, just take those sleeping pills. Knock yourself out until we land."

"Yeah right?" Roman scoffed, "I don't want to die in my sleep Dean, I'd rather see it coming."

Dean leaned back with an exaggerated sigh, "You're killing me."

Roman just huffed and tightened his seatbelt again. How he was even breathing properly was a wonder. He was sitting in the middle seat. They hoped that with Dean and Enzo were on either side of him, he could kinda pretend he was just in a really fast, really loud car.

Roman was trying really heavy breathing exercises as the engine roared, getting ready to start moving. As it started along the runway, Roman was still trying to use the whole 'really fast car' thing, but the faster it went, the farther away that idea went. All the while, hushed words of encouragement came from either side of him. Although they knew it wasn't helping much, Dean and Enzo, were trying their hardest to make this any less scary for him.

But for Enzo, all that went out the window when the plane took off an Roman squeezed his eyes shut, and grabbed onto hands on either side of him. Dean kept reassuring, but Enzo's words got stuck in his throat because once again, Roman Reigns was holding his hand.

He was holding his fucking hand.

And sure, his grip was damn near agonizing, and it tightened the higher the plane went, and Enzo was sure that he could hear some bones popping. But who the hell cared? He was holding Roman's hand!

Once they were at cruising altitude, the grip loosened, and Enzo could feel the blood flow going back to his crushed hand. Roman let go quickly, and the hand was gone as suddenly as it had come.

"Sorry 'bout that," he muttered, his eyes still closed.

"No problem," Enzo managed to let out, "You... you don't gotta let go. If it helps."

"If I don't let go I could break your hand," Roman chuckled quietly.

Enzo couldn't hep but realize that he honestly didn't mind his hand getting broken if it was Roman doing the breaking.

Damn, something was seriously wrong with him.

"You guys should talk." Roman said, "Talk about something uninteresting. That has nothing to do with planes. Or death."

"Oh, I got one!" Dean raised his hand, "are we gonna ignore the fact that Enzo has a dick piercing he never mentioned?"

"Yeah dude, what's up with that?" Roman nodded.

Enzo blinked, "Alright, first of all, I think it's pretty reasonable that I kept my dick piercing to myself. And secondly, it's not 'dick piercing' it's called a 'Prince Albert'."

"Why do you have a Prince Albert, Enzo?"

"Because I like it! Who doesn't want a lil extra bling bling?"

Dean scoffed, "Yeah, that's why people get nose piercings. Not dick piercings."

"It's a Prince Albert!"

"Okay Prince Albert, whatever," Dean shrugged, "So who'd you get it for?"

"What?" Enzo scoffed, "I didn't get it for anyone."

Dean raised an eyebrow, and even Roman was giving him a look. They stared him down until he cracked.

"Okay, fine," he sighed, "Back in college, this guy I had a thing for worked in this tattoo parlor. He specialized in piercings so I went and got him to give me a piercing."

Roman blinked with a frown, "You got a dick piercing so you could show off your junk to a guy you liked? Really?"

Enzo shrugged, "So what? It worked. Works today too."

It was then that a flight attendant came offering drinks and pretzels, and Enzo turned to her to discuss the menu. All conversation about his dick came to a stop. Next to him, Roman kinda wanted to go back to the subject.

You know... because it was helping with the whole flying thing. That's why. Because... because conversation was distracting and... stuff and... well, he kinda wanted to go back to the distracting conversation about Enzo's Prince Albert. Because it was distracting. Not the Prince Albert, the conversation. Enzo's Prince Albert was not distracting, why would it be?

It wasn't.

Well, honestly Roman didn't know if it was distracting or not, he hadn't actually seen it. One had to see something in order to rule it as distracting, right? And he hadn't seen it. Did that mean he should probably see it? You know, to distract him. From the plane ride. That's it. That's the absolute only reason. Because what other reason was there? Why else would-

"Anything for you sir?"

Roman looked up at the flight attendant. He cleared his suddenly very dry throat, "Whiskey would be great," he said, "In fact, make that two."

Roman was very quiet after he'd had his two whiskeys.

The other two took it as a good sign. Maybe he was getting used to the flying.

Roman however, was too busy trying not to think about distracting piercings to even worry about the flight anymore.

The only time it came back was when the pilot announced that they were about to land. Roman had no choice but to grab onto hands again when he felt the plane descend. Dean put his other hand over Roman's shushing him and promising that they weren't gonna die.

On the other side of him, Enzo was silent once again, just gazing at his crushed hand as it was gripped in Roman's.

Holy shit.

Roman was holding his fucking hand.

:::

When the rental car pulled up very noisily and very clumsily into her driveway, Trudy Grey had to wonder who the hell had given her son his license back. In her opinion, that boy should never be allowed on the road, let alone with someone else's car. However, when the passenger door opened while the car was still running, she saw that Enzo wasn't actually the one driving.

Who else would be...

Trudy saw a flash of blonde by the wheel, and her eyes went red.

She stormed out of the house, opening the door to a grinning Enzo.

"Mama!" he yelled with open arms. Trudy just glared.

"You better tell me you didnt bring that Neanderthal up here in my house boy."

"I- wha-"

"Is that Colin in that drivers seat?" she demanded, "you better tell him to leave before I make him. You know what, on second thought, nah, bring him in here so I can kick his ass back to whatever land of the giants he came from!"

Trudy's yells reached the car as the engine was finally killed, and they were apparently taken to heart, becasue no one stepped out.

Enzo couldn't help but let his grin widen, "Mama, I didn't bring Cass here, why would I do that?"

"Well that car ain't driving itself Enzo!"

Enzo went up to her, throwing his arm around Trudy, "Ma, it's just Dean and Roman in there. Remember? I told you about them on the phone?"

Trudy blinked, thinking back, "Oh. Okay then, bring them in here let me see 'em."

"What, I don't even get a hug first?"

Trudy glared, "You stay away for months and think you can just get a hug whenever you want one? Don't you be smiling at me boy, you got a lot of explaining to do!"

Enzo sighed, putting his arms down, "Okay, I'll just get the bags then." he turned back to the car, but was pulled back by a hand on his arm. He smiled as he was pulled down into Trudy's arms.

"I missed you boy," she said into his ear.

Enzoz smiled, "I missed you too Mama," he sighed.

She held him for a while longer before letting go, "Alright, now get your stuff and come inside. And get them boys in the car to stop looking so scared, I ain't that bad."

She walked back into the house and shouted over her shoulder, "And hurry the hell up before the food gets cold."

Enzo made his way back into te car ans stuck his head in where the other two were still sitting, looking like they had no intention of moving.

"Uh, why are you still in here?"

Roman glanced at Dean and sighed, "We've decided that we're kinda afraid of your Mama." he said quietly.

"We're not afraid!" said Dean glaring back at him, "Just... scared."

Enzo just laughed, "Yeah well, Mama tends to have that effect on people. Come on, you'll love her trust me."

The boys still looked weary, so Enzo sighed, "She made us lunch," he tried. It seemed to have the desired effect when they perked up.

"Well you know, we might as well go in and say hello," shrugged Dean.

"Yeah," nodded Roman, "It's only polite."

Enzo rolled his eyes as they finally got out of the car. they all grabbed their bags and made their way into the house.

Enzo just dropped his stuff in what looked to be the living room, motioning for the others to do the same, and went further into the house, The others followed him until they reached the kitchen, where a table was set with three plates and a steaming meal waited.

There were dishes piled high with mashed potatoes, roast chicken, hot bread rolls, gravy, the works. Dean and Roman stared at the table, trying not to drool.

"Well you gonna sit down or what?"

"Mama this looks great," grinned Enzo, kissing her on the cheek and taking a seat. When he saw Dean and Roman just standing there, he sighed, "Mama, that's Dean over there, that there is Roman."

Roman was the first to stick out his hand, "Hello Ma'am. It's a pleasure to meet you Ma'am. My name's Roman Reigns. Ma'am."

He nudged Dean to do the same, and he stuck his hand out too, "Hi Miss Trudy Grey ma'am. I'm... I'm Dean. Ambrose. Ma'am."

Enzo was trying not to laugh at their awkwardness as Mama stared them down. She ignored their hands and they eventually had to slowly out them down.

"So," she finally said, "You're the one's who have been taking care of my Enzo?"

Enzo rolled his eyes, knowing full well he did not need to be 'taken care of', but Dean and Roman nodded vigourously.

"Yep."

"That's us."

"Enzo's great, by the way."

"Yeah you uh.. raised him well."

They blinked at her.

"Ma'am."

After another round of looking them over, Trudy grinned, "Well in that case, ya'll better call me Mama. Any friend of Enzo's is a friend of mine."

She quickly pulled Roman in for a hug, but let go before he could react, pulling Dean down as well.

"Well then, ya'll sit your asses down and eat. I know they don't give you proper food in those hotels ya'll keep staying at. Go on, sit down and dish up."

Roman and Dean didn't need telling twice. They sat down quickly on either side of Enzo, eyeing the very full table with joy. Enzo's plate was already half full, so with another nod from Mama, they dug in.

"Damn, I see where Enzo get's his cooking skills. Damn!" Dean exclaimed after the first bite.

"Enzo you been cooking for these boys?" she beamed.

"Yeah," he shrugged, "But they made me stop after a while."

"What you didn't like it?" asked Mama.

"Oh we loved it," said Dean with a mouth full of mashed potatoes and gravy, "but he wanted to cook like, every day."

"We didn't wanna work him to death, you know?" continued Roman, "Dudes gotta take a break once in a while."

Trudy smiled as she watched them wolf down their meal. She looked at Enzo, "I like them," she nodded at him.

Enzo grinned, "Yeah, me too."

:::

Trudy blinked at her empty table. It hadn't even been thirty minutes, and they had cleared the table. she knew that a group of hungry men could do impossible things, but damn. She'd been cooking all day and they finished it all.

"That's why we don't let him cook anymore." said Dean, leaning back and patting his stomach, "he'd never be able to stop."

"And here I was thinking my Enzo ate a lot," she shook her head chuckling. "Now once you've digested all of that, why don't you wash up and I'll go fix your rooms."

"Oh, uh, Mama," said Enzo, "Dean and Roman only need one room."

Trudy raised her eyebrows, "Come on now son, we got plenty of room you know that."

"No I actually mean they... they only need one room. They sleep in the same bed."

Trudy tilted her head and then realised, "Oh yeah, you're a couple," nodded Trudy, "I thought I sensed some sexual kinda vibe going on between you two."

Dean's eyebrows shot up as he glanced at Roman, "You... you did?"

"Of course!" laughed Trudy, "ya'll got 'sex-buddies' written all over you."

Roman's eyes widened, "We... we do?"

Trudy winked, "I'll go fix up your sex pad boys,"

Once she was gone, Dean and Roman stared after her with wide eyes and gaping mouths.

Enzo couldn't help but laugh, "Yea, she's always like that. And yeah, you'll get used to it." he stood up, 'Now we better finish that before she comes back and starts commenting on your brands of underwear."

The three got to work clearing the table and washing up. Just as the finished, Mama came back into the kitchen. She looked around and gave a small nod, "Alright, not too bad, I guess. Now go make yourselves busy so I can do it again."

The boys blinked.

"But... but it's so clean!" protested Dean, "Look it's... it's clean."

Mama walked up to him and held his face in her hands, "It's real cute that you think so, Dean." she smiled, "now go, so I can do it again."

She shooed the boys out of the kitchen, telling them to make themselves busy until dinner was ready. She of course refused help. Multiple times.

"Alright, I think I should take a bit of a nap," sighed Roman, "I need to get that plane outta my system."

"Yeah you go do that," grinned Dean, "Go warm up that uh... sex pad."

Roman snorted and walked away, "See you later dudes." he waved behind his back.

"You can see my baby when you wake up again." grinned Enzo. Roman frowned.

"Your what?"

"My baby," he grinned.

Roman blinked at him. He was gonna ask what he meant, but then decided against it. He shook his head, "Never mind. I need a nap."

Once Roman was gone, Dean turned to Enzo with a frown, "Your baby"

Enzo's grin grew, "Come on, I'll show you."

Outside, Dean was led to the garage, a very excited Enzo skipping ahead of him.

"Okay, you ready?"

"I don't even know what I'm waiting for here."

Enzo laughed, "Prepare yourself Ambrose," He pressed a button and the garage door started opening slowly. As it did, Enzo couldn't help himself as he started humming the Jaws theme song

Dean rolled his eyes at how ridiculous this was, but he couldn't help but smile at how adorable he was being.

As the garage door lifted, Dean finally saw what all the fuss was about.

"Dude," he said slowly, walking into the garage.

Enzo nodded proudly, "yep."

"Dude," he said again, "You... you've got a Harley."

Enzo slid his hand proudly over his baby, "She's beautiful, ain't she? I call her Rebecca."

"Dude," Dean grinned again.

Enzo sat down with a long sigh, "It's been too long baby," he said, running his hands over the handles. He gripped them tight, and then turned the key, letting the bike roar to life. He looked to Dean , who was still staring at Rebecca in awe. He reached behind him, where sat two helmets, and threw one at Dean.

"Well? You coming?"

Dean didn't need teling twice.

"Are you even alllowed to drive this thing?" yelled Dean through his helmet, over the roar of the bike

"Do you want an honest answer?" Enzo yelled back.

Dean thought for a moment, "Never mind. Just go fast."

Enzo revved the engine with a laugh, and they were gone.

:::

They spend hours driving around Jersey, Enzo showing Dean all his favourite spots, not by stopping of course. He'd just shout out the name of a place and keep driving.

He never stopped driving. Dean of course, didn't hear anything Enzo was yelling. The wind and the helmet made that impossible. Dean was holding onto Enzo's shoulders as he drove. the decision was not one that came lightly. At first his hands had gone around Enzo's waist, and Dean decided that this was too close to the hug they had shared the night before.

He'd said he wouldn't do the hugging hing anymore, so he stopped.

Then he thought about moving his hands down to Enzo's hips but then... but then after a quick thought he swallowed hard and decided that although it was nothing like a hug, it was way too much like... like something else that Dean had no business thinking when he was sitting behind his friend like this.

So then Dean thought about just holding onto the back of the seat like he'd seen people do, but then at the speed Enzo was driving, that was a sure ass way to fall off the motorcycle and die. And Roman would definitely kill him if he died.

So finally, he settled onto the shoulders. But he'd never really held Enzo's shoulders before. He had no idea they were so muscly...

Dean sighed at himself, wondering what the hell was going on with his stupid mind. He decided to just stop thinking, because he was obviously very bad at it, and just enjoy the scenery that was Hackensack New Jersey. If they were even in Hackensack anymore.

They had been riding for a while now, Enzo had no idea how long, he was mostly just trying to focus on staying on the road. He had started off telling Dean all about the place he called Home, but after a while, talking became way too much of an effort, because Dean was sitting flush behind him and Enzo could feel him.

He could... _feel_ him.

Every time he slowed down or sped up or hit a bump or made a quick turn, the inertia would press Dean up against him and Enzo... Enzo could fucking _feel_ him. His face was flushed under the helmet, and he was pretty sure his sweating hands were gonna slip off the handles pretty soon and send them flying to their deaths.

So this was iit. This is how he was gonna die. Death by inappropriate arousal. Well that just summed up his curret existance perfectly, didn't it.

It was when he hit a particularly hard bump and Dean jerked forward against the small of his back, that Enzo decided that the ride needed to stop if he wanted to make it home alive.

He realised where he was and slowed down, taking the first dirt path he saw. He kept driving through the trees for a few few more minutes before breaking out into a clearing with a sparkling lake. He parked the motorbike on the grass, and took a deep breath as Dean hopped off the bike.

Once again, Enzo felt that feeling of half relief and half disappointment. Enzo killed the engine and pulled the helmet off his head.

Dean was doing the same a few feet away from him. Enzo couldn't help but stare as Dean shook his head, trying to brush back his hair, only for it to fall right back in his face. Enzo smiled at how cute he looked as he tried to blow it out of his face.

He looked away quickly. It was bad enough that he was staring at Dean like this, it would make it competley worse if he got caught.

Enzo didn't even want to think about what would happen if he got caught. The thought made him cringe so much it almost hurt. So he'd just have to stop staring then.

Dean stretched his arms upwards, flexing his shoulders and letting his beater ride up a bit, revealing a streak of skin just above his jeans.

Enzo blinked.

No staring.

Easier said than done.

:::

 **PS: I promise I'll never make you wait that long again. Hopefully. Please review and let me know your thoughts as those are very helpful and also very encouraging and I like hearing from you.**

 **PPS: When I think of Mama Trudy Grey, the person that always comes to mind is Wanda Sykes. Just in case you wanted to put a face to the name.**

 **Okay that's it for now.**

 **Byyeee!**

 **\- Leeh**


	17. Broken Rides

The lake Enzo had stopped at was in the midst of a huge clearing surrounded by trees. There was a mini pier that led a few feet into the water. where it was deep enough to dive but shallow enough to not drown. It was a usual hangout for college kids in the summer, so Enzo was pleasantly surprised to find it empty.

"This is a nice place," said Dean as he looked out to the lake, "It's kinda the perfect setting for the beginning of a horror movie."

Enzo laughed as he got off the bike, "Yeah, it does look like it could be hiding alligators or something. But don't worry, I've swam here countless times, and I haven't been eaten yet so we're good. So, Dean Ambrose, welcome to Sid Lake."

"Sid lake." Dean looked back at him, "Weird name for a lake."

Enzo shrugged, "Well I mean, it probably has a real name that I've forgotten, but we all just call it 'Sid Lake'."

"Is that short for something?"

"Uh... not really. Back in High School some kid called Sid drowned in here, and they never found his body so chances are he's still in there somewhere, so we call it Sid Lake."

Dean looked at him for a long time, "You see? Like I told you, horror movie shit."

Enzo laughed, "Come on, it's a loving gesture towards a fallen friend."

"It's morbid is what it is!"

Enzo just laughed again, "Well in a way I guess." He found a nice patch of grass and threw himself on it, Dean following not long after.

"Really is a nice place though," he said quietly.

"Yeah," sighed Enzo, It's one of the few places you can just forget about the world for a bit." he smiled, "Just feels like home, you know?"

Dean nodded, "I got a place like that back in Vegas."

"There's a lake in Vegas?"

"Well," Dean shrugged, "It's more like... a puddle. But that puddle is surrounded by these really huge boulders you can scale," he grinned just thinking about it, "I only go there when Roman isn't around though. Last time we were there I almost broke my neck, so he's decided it's too dangerous."

"That guy is way too overprotective with you." chuckled Enzo.

"With me?" he scoffed, "Just watch, when we get back he'll be by the garage ready to tear you a new one for riding a motorcycle without elbow padding."

Enzo laughed, "I think he'll be more mad that I put you in danger."

"And then madder at me because I let you drive without a license."

They laughed together at Roman's expense, and chuckled into silence. They watched the lake as the sun went down, causing the rippling water to sparkle. The slight gust wind was causing Dean's hair to fall all over his face again, and he kept brushing it out of his eyes every few seconds. Enzo found himself staring again.

He kept trying to look away, but the sight of the lake was nothing when Dean Ambrose was sitting next to it.

"So how are you feeling about SummerSlam?" Dean asked, breaking the silence, "I really think you should reconsider this match Enzo."

Enzo sighed, looking back out at the lake, "I'm not gonna back down Dean."

"I know, I know." he sighed, "I don't really expect you to. But I had to try, you know?"

Enzo snorted, "Yeah, I guess so. And you know honestly? I'm more worried about Roman."

Dean frowned, "Why would you worry about Roman?"

"Well you know. Twenty feet above the ring in a shark cage? he might die up there."

Dean groaned as he threw his head back, "Crap, I completely forgot about that."

"We're gonna have to sedate him or something ain't we."

"If we don't want him throwing up all over everyone, probably yeah."

They chuckled into silence again, turning back to the lake. The silence was peaceful, and then-

"Enzo?"

Both men turned around, and Enzo grinned when he saw someone in the distance cruising up on a Skateboard.

"Leah!" he beamed. He jumped up and ran towards the girl on the skateboard.

"I thought that was you!" she laughed as Enzo ran up. He lifted her clean off the skateboard as he twirled her around, letting the board keep going on it's own. It came right up to Dean and he stopped it with foot as he watched with narrowed eyes.

Who the hell was Leah? And damn, that was a long hug they were sharing.

Why the hell were they still hugging for so long? Surely hugs weren't supposed to take this long. And this girl was damn near strangling Enzo with the way her arms were wrapped so tightly around his neck. Dean had half a mind to go over there and break them up, but they stopped before he had to get up.

When they finally did let go and Enzo put her down, Dean got a chance to look this Leah girl over.

She was tiny. Really damn tiny. Barely five feet tall. Her hair was bigger than her face, and was wrestled down under a helmet. She was full of protection actually, with elbow pads and knee pads and shin pads and even goggles.

She was chatting animatedly as Enzo took off her helmet, letting a full head of frizzy black hair bounce up. He took her goggles off and she was still talking.

Dean glared. What the hell was he dong undressing her in plain sight. That was just inappropriate. He looked away to the lake, huffing at the water.

"I didn't know you were coming!" grinned Leah as she looked up at Enzo, "When did you get here? Why didn't Mama tell me?"

"We just got here this afternoon," said Enzo, "Damn I forgot how much I missed you, kid!"

Leah grinned, "Dude, it's been months! After everything that happened I thought you'd come straight home."

"Yeah well, I've had company," shrugged Enzo, gesturing to the man looking at the lake.

"Friend of yours?" asked Leah, "You have friends?"

Enzo chuckled and threw an arm around her shoulder, "Yeah, it's good to see you too. Come on, I'll introduce you."

As they approached, the man still didn't turn around, so Leah went around to introduce herself.

"Hello! I'm OH MY GOD!"

"Oh yeah," Enzo scratched his neck, "I forgot you're a Dean girl."

Dean leapt back startled at the suddenly screaming small person in front of them. The girl called Leah was bouncing so hard Dean was worried she'd get whiplash, "Oh my god can I hug you?!" she gasped.

"Uh..." Dean glanced at Enzo and then at the Leah, "uh sure why n- whoa!"

before he could even finish, he was tackled to the ground by hair and elbow pads.

"You're one of my favorites you know! I've loved you since CZW and even when you were being a dick in the Shield's early days and especially when you won the WWE championship but I gotta tell you the Intercontinental championship suits you way more which is why it sucks that those stupid idiots keep cheating you of it and oh my god I can't believe you're here! Why- why are you here?"

Dean blinked as she talked a mile a minute, still not having let go of him.

"So I'm guessing you're a fan." Dean grinned when he had a chance to talk, "Enzo, I think you should introduce me to more of your friends."

Enzo laughed as he sat down, and Leah finally let go of Dean, but that didn't mean she stopped staring at him with unblinking eyes.

"Dean this is Leah Mayne. She was Mama's Foster kid for a while. She was only with us for a year, and since then we can't really seem to get rid of her."

"You know Mama?" gasped Leah, "You met Mama? You met Mama and she didn't say anything to me?"

"I'm sure she was gonna tell you tomorrow. Once they settled in."

Leah blinked, "they?" she whispered, "Who else is here? Please say Roman Reigns please say it's Roman Reigns." she crossed her fingers, "Oh my god you better not say Cass because I swear I will kick him in the nuts so hard at his children will know my name as soon as they're born."

Dean couldn't help but grin, "Yeah, I like her."

Enzo laughed, "Don't worry Leah, it's not Cass. It's Roman Rei-"

Enzo was interrupted by the loud scream that sent birds flying out of the trees.

:::

Roman blinked his eyes open and looked at his watch. He'd been asleep for just over an hour. He yawned as he sat up and heard clattering coming from the kitchen. He rubbed his face as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed.

That nap had actually been quite helpful. The plane nausea was mostly gone now. He grabbed his T-Shirt from the bottom of the bed and threw it on as he stood up. From the lack of noise, he could tell that Dean and Enzo wweren't back yet.

When he had heard the roar of the motorcycle earlier he knew that something was probably gonna go wrong. And when he heard Mama cursing loudly about that godforsaken motorcycle that was gonna kill her baby, he knew that he was right. But by the time Roman made it outside, all that was left of the bike was the flying dust it left behind. Mama had told him to go to sleep, and that she'd take care of them once they got back.

But it didn't look like they were back.

He sighed again as he made his way to the kitchen, where Mama was still bustling around.

"Oh you're up," she said once she saw him, "The boys ain't back yet."

"Yeah, there'd probably be a lot more noise if they were," chuckled Roman, "I'd love to help out if I can."

Mama thought for a while, "You know anything about making lasagna?"

Roman wanted to say he did, but then again the last time he cooked, the kitchen was up in flames.

"I'm really good at grating cheese." he shrugged.

Mama chuckled, "There's a block in the fridge."

Roman grinned, happy to be doing something. He grabbed the cheese and the grater and got to work. Only half a minute later, Mama spoke up.

"So how long have you and Dean been together?" she asked.

"Just over five years," said Roman, "We got together just before we started wrestling together."

Mama nodded, "And you ain't married?"

"Uh, no ma'am."

"And why not?"

"Well," sighed Roman, "Every time I mention the M word to Dean, he starts panicking. The last time I proposed he pretended to fall asleep. While he was driving."

"Commitment issues?"

"Honestly I don't know..." he shrugged, "But I stopped asking a while ago. And I guess we don't need to get married. My last marriage didn't work out that well anyway."

"Oh you been married before?" asked Mama, "Any kids?"

"Uh, yeah, I got a six year old daughter. Jojo."

"How often do you see her, what with your hippie travelling."

Roman glanced at her quickly. Hippie travelling?

"I see her as often as possible," said Roman, "I was actually planning on seeing her next week."

"You gonna take my Enzo with you?"

"Well yeah, if... if you're okay with that," he added quickly, "Jojo really loves spending time with Enzo."

"And you?"

Roman's grating slowed down, as he glanced at her with narrowed eyes. Mama raised her eyebrows at him, "What? You don't know an interview when you're in one?"

Roman blinked, "An... an interview?"

"You see Roman," she gestured for him to keep grating, "It occurred to me that it's about time I start paying more attention to who the hell is hanging around my boy. The last time I wasn't paying attention, my Enzo's heart was broken." she looked at Roman pointedly, "I ain't gonna let that happen again, you hear me?'

Roman nodded, "I promise you Mama, you've got nothing to worry about with me and Dean."

"Oh I always have something to worry about." she threw her hands up, "He's a special kid, that boy. Always has been."

"Yeah he is," agreed Roman, "And I know it can be scary for you, not having him around all the time. But you raised him well, Mama. Considering everything he went through, he's a lot tougher than any of us give him credit for, and I promise you, as long as he's got me and Dean, he's gonna be fine. And trust me, we don't plan on going anywhere."

Mama looked at Roman as he grated the cheese. She tilted her head as he talked about her son. She knew that after all that had happened, it wasn't wise, but she found herself believing this Roman Reigns. Believing that he'd take care of her baby boy.

"Why?" she couldn't help but ask.

Roman raised his eyebrows, "Why?"

"Why do you care about him so much?"

"I... I don't underst-"

"You've got the life Roman. You got the man you love, you got the job, you got the kid. What's a mess like Enzo doin' on your agenda?"

The question came as a surprise to Roman, and it really got him thinking.

"I... I don't know." he said honestly, "I don't even know how we became such good friends so fast. But right now it's kinda weird to imagine him not being around, you know? I'm know if you ask Dean, he'll tell you the same thing."

Trudy watched Roman as he grated the cheese and talked about the boys. Trudy was old. She had seen a lot in her lifetime, and this age always came with some wisdom, and a kinda third eye that a person under 70 wouldn't get.

And right now, as Trudy watched Roman speak of her son with the same look of affection he had when he spoke of his boyfriend, Trudy's third eye was tingling.

And she didn't quite know what to make of it

:::

"We should be getting back," Enzo looked at his watch over the sunset, "Or else Mama's gonna kill us."

"Mama's gonna kill you either way," snorted Leah, "You know she hates when you're on that death trap."

"Rebecca's a beauty," argued Enzo, "She's completely harmless."

"Rebacca's put you in Hospital a couple of times," Leah reminded him.

Enzo shrugged,, "Yeah, well, besides that."

He got up, making his way back to the bike and throwing Dean's helmet at him.

"Leah, you coming?"

"Yep!" she jumped up, putting on her goggles and squeezing the helmet onto her outrageous hair.

"You can fit three on that thing?" asked Dean.

Leah laughed, "Of course not, Dean Ambrose," she shook her head as she dug through her backpack, "You'll never see me on one of those deathtraps. Ah hah!" She finally found what she was looking for. She pulled out a rope, "You guys are gonna pull me along on my skateboard."

She threw one end of the rope at Enzo who tied it to the back of the motorcycle. Dean blinked, Now he wasn't much of a safety freak himself, but even he could tell that this was a bad idea.

"So... you won't get on the motorcycle because it's a deathtrap, but you're totally cool with being dragged behind it on a skateboard... Are you trying to die?" he couldn't help but ask.

Leah grinned, "You concern for my life is flattering Dean Ambrose, but don't worry we do this all the time. And I haven't died yet. Enzo, tell him how I haven't died yet."

"It got pretty close that one time we went through Devil's Peak," Enzo reminded her.

"We were young and stupid. We're good now."

"It was last year, Leah."

"Like I said, young and stupid. Now we going or what?"

Dean knew that he was supposed to be the adult voice of reason in this situation, but he had worn that part of him out at the airport earlier on, so he shrugged and hoped they knew what they were doing.

"If you do die," he said to Leah, "It was nice meeting you."

She beamed, "I love you too Dean Ambrose."

The ride home was a lot less uncomfortable than the one away. Both boys were quite distracted by the whoops and yells that followed the bike. Enzo turned around to look back every few seconds to make sure that Leah's screaming was out of elation rather than her falling off the skateboard and being smushed like a grape on the tar road.

It was insane the number of times the bike swerved because Enzo didn't care much about looking at the road. It made Dean wonder how these two were still alive.

By the time they got back to the house, it was already dark. As they pulled into the driveway, the door was already open, a big figure standing there with crossed arms. This time, the screams from Leah weren't from the elation of the ride, but from seeing Roman Reigns.

Dean turned just in time to see her let go of the rope dragging her behind the bike and letting the momentum fly her and her skateboard towards the door. Dean just managed to get a glimpse of the wide eyes look of horror on Roman's face before a bundle of hair and padding tackled him back into the house.

Roman had been very ready to yell the hell out of Dean and Enzo when they got back. As soon as he heard the unmistakable roar of Enzo's motorcycle approaching, he had assured Mama that he 'got' this', before waiting for them by the doorway with his most intimidating pose.

What he hadn't been expecting was the sudden bundle of hair and padding that appeared behind the motorcycle and was suddenly on top of him on the living room floor. He couldn't even ask himself what was going on because of that very high screaming. It was almost illegible, but he was pretty sure he'd heard his name a few times between squeals.

"Leah!" he finally heard above him, "What in god's name are you doing attacking people in this house?"

The mass on top of him, now known as 'Leah', finally got off his chest, but certainly didn't move away.

"I'm sorry did I hurt you?!" she gasped, finally using words, "What am I saying, of course I didn't hurt you, you're Roman Reigns you don't get hurt. You're not hurt, right?"

"Uh... nah I'm- I'm good."

"See Mama he's good! Of course he's good he's Roman Reigns!"

And that's when the screaming started again.

It was then that Dean and Enzo showed up at the door.

"We're home!" grinned Enzo. He was barely a step in the door when Mama was on him, slapping him upside the head.

"Boy what have I said about being home before the streetlights come on?"

"Mama," he sighed in exasperation, "I am 30 years old. Those rules mighta worked back in High School but I'm a grown man now!"

Mama scoffed, "Grown my ass." she shook her head, snapping it to her other kid, "And you! it's your first time visiting in two weeks and the first thing you do is assault a man in the living room? Whatever happened to bein' a lady about things? What the hell is wrong with you kids?" she stomped back to the kitchen still yelling her head off, "I swear ya'll are gon' give me a damn heart attack making me scream like this. And when we got visitors! Lord have mercy on these goddamn kids. Now get in here and eat before I whup you both. Punk ass little..."

The four looked after her as she disappeared into the kitchen, her voice still just as loud.

Well, three stared after her, Leah still hadn't taken her eyes off Roman, who was casting weary looks in her direction.

"Calm down she's not gonna eat you." Dean laughed, slapping Roman on the shoulder.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," scoffed Enzo, "Look she's drooling."

"I am not!" Leah snapped at him, but still touched her lips just to be sure. She turned her grin back to Roman.

"Sorry about that," she held her hand out, "Hi. I'm Leah. And... and you're Roman. Roman Reigns. I don't believe it you're Roman Reigns. And you're Dean Ambrose. And you're both here. And I'm here too! We're all here! God, I need to sit down."

She turned towards the kitchen taking deep breaths as she did, finally undoing all her armor. Enzo followed in hopes to calm her down.

Roman turned to Dean with a raised eyebrow.

"That's Leah Mayne, Enzo's foster sister. She's a fan, in case you didn't notice."

Roman laughed as they made their way to the kitchen, "Trust me, I noticed."

Dinner wasn't quite the same as lunch. There was quite a lot more chatter.

Luckily, Leah was too distracted by the delicious meal to gape at Dean and Roman anymore.

She had no problem doing it after dinner though.

"I know I'm staring," she said over the cups of tea mama had made them, "I'm sorry for staring, I can't help it. This is why Enzo never lets me meet his people anymore."

"She once gave Carmella a black eye." said Enzo.

"Yeah but that's 'cause she's a bitch," scoffed Leah, "And besides, the fact that I could give her a black eye that easily obviously means she shouldn't even be a wrestler in my opinion."

Enzo just rolled his eyes, "You're impossible."

"Whatever, you love me," he nudged him with her foot, and then turned back to Dean and Roman, "But don't worry boys, you guys are awesome wrestlers so it probably won't be so easy to give you black eyes. I mean, I could try, but I won't. I like your faces."

"Uh, thanks," nodded Roman, "I like not getting black eyes."

Leah grinned, "I kinda love giving them."

"Leah, are you threatening to hurt Enzo's friends again?" sighed Mama as she looked up from the little hat she was making.

"Well it wouldn't be a visit without Leah threatening to punch people." chuckled Enzo standing up, "Now that tea's done who wants a beer?"

"I do!" grinned Dean.

"Beer sounds great," Roman nodded, as they both set their teacups down.

"I probably shouldn't, I'm driving."

"You're on a skateboard Leah, that doesn't count as driving."

Leah scoffed at Enzo, "I have a skateboarding license that says otherwise."

"That's not a real thing and you know it!" he yelled from the kitchen.

"Are ya'll two ever gonna quit your yapping? It's quiet when you're gone but my hearing aid bursts whenever you're here together."

"It's not like it happens that often Mama. I got school and he's got work."

"Yeah," she sighed, "A coupla hippies is what you two are."

Leah laughed, "You know one day im'ma stop visiting and then you'll be sorry."

"Girl you went back to your daddy over five years ago and I still can't get rid of you," she said with a slight smile.

Leah laughed as she nudged her slightly.

"How is he anyway?" asked Mama.

"Oh he's back in prison. Getting out in a few weeks though, then he's gotta do 200 hours of community service."

"Kyle's in prison again?" Enzo yelled from the kitchen, "When did this happen?"

"Last month," said Leah, loud enough for him to hear, "He got caught with drugs. Again."

Mama sighed heavily as she set down her knitting, "You know, I could get social services to bring you back here."

"Mama I'm twenty years old, I can take care of myself you know." Leah laughed, "And besides, you know daddy's a good guy deep down. You know, if you look past all the drug dealing and armed robbery."

Enzo came back with his hands full of cans, "It's kinda hard to look past the drug dealing and armed robbery though," he shrugged.

"Enzo, you ain't even met him," Leah threw a pillow at him, "Now lets stop talking about my dad, alright? Dean and Roman must think we're weird."

"We don't," assured Roman, cracking open his beer.

"Yeah, we kinda do actually," shrugged Dean. He let out a yelp when he got an elbow to the chest, "I mean weird in a good way!" he said, glaring at Roman, "You know, it's nice to see where Enzo gets the oddness from. It runs in the family."

Roman put his face in his hands with a groan.

Dean threw his hands up, "What? I mean he's odd in a good way!"

"I ain't odd!" Enzo scoffed.

Leah laughed, "You're totally odd."

"You're one to talk."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Leah crossed her arms, "You wanna go Amore? Come on then, fight me!"

"You know, you say 'fight me' a lot for someone who's 4 foot 11 and barely 100 pounds."

Dean sat back slowly as he watched the two bicker, "Did I start this?" he asked quietly.

"You're damn right you did," Roman huffed at him.

Mama chuckled, "They'll tire themselves out eventually." She put her knitting down again and stretched her fingers, "I think it's about time for another cuppa," she said standing up.

By now, Enzo and Leah were off their seats. Enzo had her head under his arm while she clawed at his legs.

"You know what," said Roman, "I think I'll help you."

Dean stood up after them, "And I'll watch."

"Great," Mama smiled, "About time you had your interview too."

Dean frowned at Roman as they followed her into the kitchen, "My what?"

It took the two in the living room a while to figure out that they had been left alone.

"You ass, you chased them away!" Leah slapped Enzo's shoulder.

He scoffed, "I'm not the one who was screaming like a person possessed,"

"You were pulling my hair!"

"You were biting my thigh!"

Leah threw herself down onto the couch with a huff, "Well now they think I'm weird." she crossed her arms, "How am I ever gonna hook up with one of your wrestler friends if they keep thinking I'm weird?"

"You ain't hooking up with anybody, " Enzo scoffed, "You're still a kid."

"You know after the summer I'm a Junior at Princeton," sighed Leah, "You're gonna have to stop thinking of me as a kid and start thinking of me as someone who can have a sexual-"

"Okay stop!" he cried, "I don't wanna think about my baby sister having sex!"

"Well you do it, why can't I?"

"Cause I'm grown and you ain't."

"Well if you're so 'grown', why don't I ever hear about your oh so busy sex life?"

"Why would I tell you about my sex'life?" Enzo scoffed.

"Would you rather hear about mine?"

Enzo made a gagging sound and Leah glared, "Well you gotta spill brother. I ain't taking no for an answer, you know."

"Leah, I'm not gonna-"

"Come on _pleaase?_ " she pouted, "I know you've got the juice Enzo. You always got the juice."

He glared, "Do you know how annoying you are?"

Leah smiled, "I'm aware."

Enzo rolled his eyes at her, all set to dismiss her incessant snooping, but then he got to thinking. There was something he'd been meaning to get off his chest...

"I see you thinking," said Leah slowly.

Enzo shrugged, "Well..." he started, "There has been something I've been keeping quiet about."

"Yeah? What is it? _Who_ is it?"

Enzo opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He honestly probably shouldn't say anything, but it was about time he let this out. He'd been keeping it a secret for a whole two days and it was killing him. He sighed and leaned back against the couch, his leg shaking up and down.

Leah took one look at him and grinned a wide grin.

"Oooh, this is gonna be a good one," she grinned. She pulled her legs up onto the couch and rested her elbows on her knees, "Come on bro, spill. My lips are sealed, I promise."

Enzo took one look at her eager face and knew that telling her would be a bad idea.

But hey, he wasn't the smartest person when it came to decisions. Why start now?

"Alright. I've kinda been... screwing this guy from work."

"Just screwing?"

"Hell yeah, It's nothing more than that, he kinda hates me. And besides I kinda..." he cleared his throat, "Anyway, we just messed around a couple of times so it's not a big deal, I just hate shutting up about stuff, you know."

"Trust me, I know. So who is it?"

"Just... just promise you won't freak out and start screaming?"

"Scouts honor."

"Seriously Leah, this can't get out he'd kill me."

"Are you gonna spill or not?" she all begged.

With a final sigh, Enzo leaned in to whisper, "It's Graves. Corey Graves."

He leaned back again, waiting for the onslaught. And Leah just looked at him.

"Corey Graves?" she said.

"Yep."

"As in... the ring announcer, Corey Graves?"

"Uh huh."

"You're screwing Corey Graves?!"

"See, you are dangerously close to screaming and freaking out," Enzo warned her.

Leah slapped her hand over her mouth, "I'm calm," she said in a muffled voice, "I'm not freaking out. Just... Corey Graves?"

"It's not that big a deal," Enzo rolled his eyes.

"It's a huge deal!" she exclaimed, "I mean... it's kinda perfect!" she gasped, "I mean think about it. He saved you from the clutches of your evil ex best friend and although he claimed to hate you he was always harboring these deep feelings. And then on a cold night in a lonely hotel you found comfort in each others arms and in each others beds, as the love between you blossomed like a tulip in the spring..." she smiled dreamily into the distance, and Enzo blinked at her for a few seconds.

"You see? This is why I don't tell you things."

The two laughed, shaking their head.

"You know what," Leah said, standing up, "I think I'll get that beer."

"What happened to your driving?"

She shrugged, "I'll stay here for the night. Make sure you don't sneak off for a booty call at Corey's."

Enzo threw a pillow at her as she ran out the living room laughing, and then leaving him with his thoughts.

Enzo sighed as he leaned back with his beer. No matter how ridiculous Leah was being, Enzo couldn't help but think about how much better her story sounded than the one that was actually going on;

Enzo Amore catches feelings for his very unavailable friends who are in a very loving relationship with each other and he is destined to die alone while Dean and Roman live happily ever after. Without him.

Yeah, Leah's story sounded a lot less sad. Albeit just as insane.

He was being insane. Utterly insane with all these crazy thoughts about Roman and Dean and these stupid nights with Corey Graves.

He was just one big hot mess just waiting to explode, and it didn't seem to be getting any better. He only seemed to confirm his own thoughts when Leah came back into the living room with Dean and Roman right behind her, and Enzo's heart skipped a few beats.

He gulped down his beer to keep his lips from drying as he stared at them as Dean said something and Roman laughed that beautiful laugh and Dean smiled that adorable smile.

How was he supposed to get over these stupid feelings when they wouldn't stop being so perfect?

With another frustrated sigh, he threw back the last of his beer.

 _Dammit Enzo._


	18. Broken Barriers

Corey was Home for the week. The Arena where RAW would take place the following week would be a mere half hour drive from his house, which meant no hotels. A matter he was all too happy about. He had gone to see his mother for their monthly visit, he'd called his sister and they had had their usual 10 second conversation, and he had spent a whole 10 minutes at the park with his nephew.

Now with his familial responsibilities done, he had nothing to do but enjoy his own company. Which is something he did a lot these past few months. After his long term relationsiip had ended at the beginning of the year, he had had to get used to his own company very quickly.

So after his mom and his sister and his nephew, his human interaction was done for the week.

Which is why he was very surprised when his phone started ringing. He turned away form the TV and frowned at the now lit phone on the table.

What the hell? The only calls he ever got apart from his family were from work. And it was way too early in the week for that.

So who the hell would be calling him?

When he picked up his phone off the table, it showed an unfamiliar number with an unfamiiar area code. Probably a wrong number then.

With a shrug, Corey swiped the green icon and held the phone to his ear.

"Hello. This is the wrong number."

"Is it?" said a female voice over the line, "So this isn't Corey Graves of World Wrestling Entertainment?"

Corey blinked with a frown, "Who the hell are you?" he asked, not so kindly.

Strangely

enough, the voice on the other end gave a loud laugh, "It is you! I'd know that cranky ass voice anywhere!"

Corey raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"You sound exactly the same as you do on TV!" the voice said giddily.

"Alright," sighed Corey, "I'm hanging up now."

"Wait wait no don't hang up, I'm a friend!"

"A friend?" scoffed Corey.

"Yeah, I stole your number from Enzo's phone, I hope you don't mind."

"Actually I really do mind," Corey said annoyed, "And what's Amore doing giving away my number?"

"He didn't give it to me, I took it from his phone. He had the most obvious passwords honestly. But he doesn't know I took it so don't tell him okay? I'm Leah by the way. Leah Mayne. Enzo's foster sister."

Corey was all ready to chew this girl out, but somethnig made his words catch in his throat.

"... Foster sister?"

"Yep. Well, former foster sister actually, he stayed with Mama longer than I did so-"

"Amore was a foster kid?" Corey couldn't help but interupt.

"Well yeah. He... he didn't tell you that? Shit, sorry, I assumed he'd tell you since you're dating and everything."

Corey blinked "Since we're... what?"

"Shit! Shit I wasn't supposed to tell you I knew that. He told me you're very hush hush about it, so don't worry, my lips are sealed!"

"Very hush hu-" Corey groaned, "We are not... dating! Did he tell you we're dating?!"

"Well..." Leah said slowly "Not in so many words. He just kinda mentioned that you and him are kinda sleeping together. Kinda."

Corey's teeth were grinding so hard he was sure that this Leah Mayne could hear, "We are not sleeping together," he said slowly.

"... Are you sure?" she asked slowly.

"Of course I'm sure! I... I mean all we did was fuck around a couple of times and that's it! We fucked!"

"Hey!" the voice on the other end was suddenly aggresive, "That's my brother you're talking about have some respect."

Corey gaped at being reprimanded by someeone he didn't even know.

"Okay, you listen to me, Leah Mayne-"

"Don't worry, Corey Graves," her

voice was suddenly calm again, "I forgive you for being so vulgur."

"You forgive me?" he spat.

"I do. And I know that you'll treat Enzo well."

"T-treat him well?" Corey was gobsmacked, "We're not together!"

"Are you sure? I mean, you could be. It'll probably take some convincing for Enzo, but I'm sure you could woo him enough to-"

"Alright, I'm hanging up now."

"Hanging up? You don't hang up on your friends, Corey."

"We are not friends."

"Well you don 't even know me!" the girl argued, "Trust me, I'm delightful. And since you're dating my brother I thnik we shold-"

"I am not dating your brother!" Corey all but yelled. He shook his head, frustrated, "Alright, you know what, I'm done with this conversation."

"Okay so we'll talk later right?"

Leah Mayne never got an answer as Corey hung up and tossed his phone onto the next couch.

He huffed. The nerve of some people! Why would anyone call a stranger and accuse them of something as horrible as dating Enzo Amore? Sure, the man was a good lay once in a while, something Corey swore wasn't going to happen again, but that was it. Anything more gave Corey a really weird feeling in his stomach. He pinned it down as nausea.

He got up, shaking his head and made his way to the kitchen, opting to just forget about that whole conversation.

He only got halfway through making his sandwich before his mind was back on that insufferable Leah Mayne and her tiresome Foster brother.

Well at least he now knew that crazy attracted crazy. Why else would two people as ridiculous as them end up in the same foster home?

Corey huffed at himself, frustrated that the stupid conversation with that Leah girl wasn't leaving his mind. In a way it kinda made sense. After all, it was the longest conversation he had had in... weeks.

Corey didn't talk to people. He didn't have people to talk to, really. Not that he minded it. No, he enjoyed his solitude immensely, thank you very much, which is why this girls intrusion was upsetting him so much. He didn't talk to people. He had had a person, many months ago.

Kathy.

But that was over, and it had ended horribly, and he had decided there and then that people weren't worth the trouble they caused, so he cut himself off.

In fact, the only person besides this Leah that he'd had a full conversation with outside of work was... Amore.

That insufferable Enzo Amore.

Amore was also the only person he'd shared a meal with since then. Lots of alcohol counted as a meal right?

In fact, Amore had been the first of many things for Corey.

Breaking up with Kathy had hit him hard, and he hadn't expected to even look at anyone else for ages, let alone sleep with anyone.

He'd done that with Amore twice now. The only person who was more shocked at it than Enzo was Corey himself. Especially since he didn't even like Enzo. Hell, maybe that's the only reason he had managed to let him so close.

Yeah, that made sense. It was actually the only thing that made sense.

Corey nodded, satisfied that he was still the lonesome hermit he wanted to be, and no number of yapping girls and great sex could stop that. He went back to finishing his sandwich.

That he'd be eating alone.

By himself.

Corey huffed angrily at his thought, stabbing the knife into the butter as he realised that he suddenly didn't feel quite as content as he did before.

Damn those stupid Jersey people and their insisting on talking to him.

Damn them both.

:::

The week at New Jersey had turned out to be better than Enzo had expected. He had already been expecting great, at the prospect of seeing his family again, but this visit just trumped all his expectations.

He had a feeling that Dean and Roman had a lot to do with that.

Leah had spent the whole week at Mama's, only occasionally going back to her place in Princeton before rolling into the house and being greeted by 'no skating inside Leah!'

Mama had Dean and Roman both fearing and adoring her within no time, as she did to anyone who crossed her threshold. Calling her Mama came as second nature to them, and it was hard to believe that she had only known them for a week considering how she already had them wrapped around her little finger.

All three of them hated the thought of leaving, but time waited for no one, and the week drew to a close. Mama had prepared a huge sending off meal, because she was sure that they wouldn't be coming back for another couple of months because 'as soon as ya'll hit the road you'll forget all about me so I might as well stuff you while I can'. She'd sent them all away while she prepared the meal, as always refusing help, so Dean, Roman, Enzo and Leah decided to make one last visit to Sid Lake.

Dean and Enzo were taking full advantage of the sunny weather and were swimming in the lake. Dean had eventually looked over the fact that there was a dead guy in there and was enjoying the cool water.

On the shore, a few feet away from the water, Roman and Leah sat on the grass watching the two in the water try to out dunk each other.

"Those fucking idiots are gonna drown," muttered Roman, shaking his head.

Leah laughed, "Well why don't you go in there and make sure they don't?"

"Oh, I don't swim," he scoffed, "As I always say, if the good Lord wanted humans in the water, he would have given us gills."

"Preach it!" she giggled.

"How about you?" he asked, "You don't swim?"

"I can't," she shrugged, "Never learned how. but even if I did, I wouldn't do it in there."

"Cause of the dead guy?"

"Cause of the dead guy," she nodded.

Roman laughed, "You know, sometimes I feel like we're the only two people with sense around here."

Roman really enjoyed talking to Leah. He liked spending time with her. It had taken her a while to get over the fact that they were Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose, but once the starstruck phase ended, Roman found that she was great company. Her and Enzo were so alike, it was a wonder they weren't actually related.

"You really aren't gonna go in there?" Leah asked again.

Roman narrowed his eyes, "You trying to get rid of me or something?"

"Honestly?" she said, "I just really want to see you shirtless."

Roman threw his head back, laughing, "Are you serious?"

"Hell yeah! I mean, I never get to see it on TV, unfortunately."

"Leah!" he snorted.

"I mean seriously!" she insisted, "I don't get it. You and Dean are the hottest guys on the whole roster, and you're basically the only ones who insist on wearing clothes all the time. I mean, what's up with that?"

Roman had to sit up and hold onto his stomach.

"My imagination can only go so far, Reigns. Ya'll gotta give me something to work with."

Shaking his head, Roman wiped at his eye, "Little girl, you need Jesus."

"What I need is abs!" she said, throwing her hand up in the air.

"Please don't tell me you're starting your petition for all wrestlers to be shirtless again." Roman and Leah looked up to see Enzo emerging from the water.

"Well if you won't take it up to management for me, I

gotta find somone who will," shrugged Leah.

"Yeah, don't count on it," Roman snorted.

Enzo sat on the other side of Leah, grabbing a towel and draping it over his shoulders.

"You done swimming?" asked Roman.

"Just taking a breather," said Enzo, "Dean keeps winning the dunking, so I gotta recharge a bit."

"Wait, why can't I see him?" Roman frowned into the lake.

"He's right over there," Enzo pointed at the midde of the lake where Dean lay floating on his back.

Roman gasped, jumping up, "What the hell is he doing so deep?" he yelled as he ran to the pier to call him in.

Leah chuckled as they watched him run, "He always so protective?"

"Yep," smiled Enzo, "Especially with Dean."

"Well that makes sense conidering they're in love and stuff."

Enzo turned to her with wide eyes, "They told you?"

Leah shook her head, "Nope. But I've spent a whole week with them, so I figured it out. I mean, they're incedibley obvious."

For a moment, Enzo wondered what else she had figured out, but she hadn't said anything so he didn't worry.

They sat in relative silence as they watched tha lake, Roman yelling at Dean to come back to the shallow, and Dean yelling at Roman to either shut up or join him.

Leah let out a long sigh, "It sucks that you're leaving already.

Enzo nodded, "Yeah. It's been great being home."

"And... how have you been? These past weeks?"

Enzo shrugged, "Great."

Leah turned to look at him pointedley, "Enzo. How have you been?"

Enzo tried to avoid her gaze, but those sharp black eyes held on.

He sighed deeply, "Really now? You're gonna ruin such a great visit by bringing this up?"

"Well, what kind of little sister would I be if I didn't meddle?" she smirked half-heartedly.

Enzo hoped to just ignore this conversation, but her eyes wouldn't let him.

He sighed again, looking back at the lake, "There's good days and bad days."

"And the nights?"

Enzo started picking at the blades of grass, "You know how it is. The nights are always bad."

Leah sat up slowly, "Like... usual bad?" she all but stabbed him with her eyes, "Or like... really bad?"

Unfortunately, Enzo knew exactly what she meant by 'really bad'.

"Look, I realy don't wanna talk about this."

"I know you don't," said Leah quietly, her usually happy face showing a solemn expression, "But Zo, what Cass did isn't something you really thought I was just gonna let go, did you?"

"Well I was hoping," he muttered.

"But Enzo, if it gets really bad-"

"For gods sake Leah!" he snapped, "You gotta stop thinking I'm gonna swallow down a bottle of Xanax every time I hit a bad patch!"

"I think Cass is a bit more than a bad patch."

"And I'm fine! Doesn't that prove that I'm finally good enough to be off suicide watch?"

Leah narrowed her eyes at him, "I ain't gonna apologise for caring," she said firmly.

Enzo sighed, feeling bad for snapping. "I know. I know you care sis. But... it was one time. Can we forget about it?"

"Two times." she reminded him, as if he could forget, "It was two times. And no, Enzo, I don't think I'm gonna forget seeing you half dead in a hospital getting your stomach pumped."

Enzo sighed softly again, draping his arms around Leah's shoulders and pulling her closer until her head was on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry kid," he said, kissing the top of her head, "I'm sorry I put you through that."

Leah just shook her head and sniffed, "Just... just don't do it again, okay? I don't want it to get that bad again."

"It won't." said Enzo. As he said it, he looked out again, where Roman and Dean were still shouting across the lake at each other. He let out a small smile, "I know it won't."

Leah lifted her head up and saw her looking at them.

"Do they know?" she asked.

"Hell no," he scoffed, "The only people who know about that are you, Mama and Cass," he looked at hr pointedly, "And it's gonna stay that way."

"You sure?" she asked, "Maybe it'll be good for you to-"

"No Leah, I ain't telling them. Now can we please talk about something else?"

Leah sighed, finally dropping the subject, only to pick up another one.

"So SummerSlam is coming up," she said slowly.

"Uh huh."

"You got a match?"

"You know I'm no allowed to tell you these things ahead of time," he sighed.

"Oh come on, just this one time," she pleaded, looking up at him with pleading eyes, "I mean, what's the point of having a brother in the WWE if I don't get to know things before everyone else?"

Enzo rolled his eyes at her pouting, "Fine," he gave in, eliciting a cheer, "Yeah, I got a match. With Cass."

Leah raised her eyebrow, "Again?"

"Yeah. Except this time he's the one who asked for it."

"And this time, you're gonna crush that bug."

"Hell yeah," he grinned.

"Especially with those two in your corner," Leah nodded towards Dean and Roman.

"They won't be in my corner though," said Enzo, "They ain't allowed to interfer."

Leah sccoffed, "as of they'e that good at following rules."

"Well they won't have a choice," Enzo shrugged, "Cass's match stipulation says they're gonna be in a shark cage above the ring."

Leah gasped, "Seriosuly?"

"Yep."

She shook her head, "that fucking Cassady. Big ass coward is what he is."

Enzo chuckled into silence, and smiled at his crazy lil sis.

"I'll miss the hell out of you."

Leah smiled, leaning back, "I know you will."

:::

It had been a good week for Enzo.

A really, really good week. He had seen his Mama after a really long time, and he'd seen his lil' sister again. And they'd both threatened extreme pain to Colin Cassady on sight, and that made Enzo feel really damn good. He always forgot how much he missed them, and seeing them again was amazing.

It reminded him that after everything, Big Cass was wrong. Enzo had his people. and his people were pretty great. All of them.

So it had been a great week

So why the hell was he laying fully clothed on a made bed in the middle of the night, staring up at the ceiling and unable to sleep?

It was his last night in Jersey. After a full day at the lake and an unbelievable meal back home, Leah had said her goodbyes and gone home, promising to see them off the next day at the airport.

While Enzo helped Mama wash up after dinner, Dean and Roman had gone out back, where there was a large, barely used hammock that Enzi had fashioned between two large oak trees. He never actually used it, becasue it was way too big for just one person, and he'd always felt quite small swinging on it by himself.

When he went outside to check on Dean and Roman and saw then on the hammock, he couldn't look away. He suddenly understood why he never liked sitting there. It wasnt meant for one person. It was meant for two.

Specificay these two. As Enzo watched them on the hammock he had made, a small smile graced his lips, and a heavy feeling filled his heart.

He hadn't even realised how long he was looking until he heard Mama behind him. He wondered for a second how long she had been standing there.

"Want some tea?" she had asked. Enzo had shaken his head.

"Nah, I think I'm just gonna turn in," he had said, and he'd made his way to his room.

That had been ages ago. Enzo had no idea how long. He just knew that time had been passing slowly as he stared at his ceiling and tried not to think about why his chest was feeling so damn bad after such a great week.

Why did his chest feel so damn heavy seeing how perfectly they fit on his hammock?

His chest felt awful, but all the while, all Enzo wanted to do was make some more hammocks for them to fit perfectly in. To make a porch swing that would fit them perfectly. To do anything that would make Dean and Roman look at happy as they looked lying on that hammock and looking at the stars.

It's all he wanted to do, and the thought was a stabbing in his heart.

He shut his eyes with a sigh and tried to will himself to sleep. He tried even though he knew it wouldn't work. And then there was a shuffling at his door, and then a voice.

"So which one is it?" Enzo opened his eyes and looked up to see Mama standing by the door.

"Huh?"

She scoffed, moving further into the room, "You forgetting who you're talking to, Enzo? I know those eyes boy. Those are the same eyes you made at Carmella when you were in love with her."

Enzo bllinked at her, and swallowed "Mama where you going with this?"

Trudy sighed as she sat on the edge of Enzo's bed, "Come on, you can tell me things. I'm one of those cool moms, right?"

"Oh god, please stop."

"You're not as great as you think at hiding your feelings Enzo. So you can just tell me, which one you in love with?"

Enzo spluttered with wide eys, "Wh-what? I'm not in love with Dean and Roman!" he hissed.

Mama raised her eyebrows, "Dean and Roman? Both of 'em?"

"What? No! Neither of them! I'm not!"

Mama brushed off his denial as if he hadn't said anything, "How in the hell did you end up fallling for two people. Enzo? And a couple, no less?"

"Ma, you've... you've got it all wrong."

"Was it after you started travelling with them? Or did you always have the hots for those boys?"

"Mama." he whined almost desperately.

Mama raised her eyebrows, "Both of them, Enzo?"

He opened his mouth to carry on with his straight out denials, but nothing was coming out anymore.

"Oh, baby," Trudy sighed softly.

Enzo sat up slowly, not looking up at her. He should have know that she'd know. Mama always knew things, why should this time be any different.

"I thought... I though I was hiding it pretty well, " he said quietly.

"You were," she assured, "You are honey. But I'm your Mama, remember?"

Enzo did remember. All too well. He shifted on the bed until his legs were over the edge and he was sitting next to Trudy.

"I'm not... in love with them." he told her, "I mean... yeah I got these... these feelings. These stupid, stupid feelings but I'm not in love. They're a couple Mama, I can't be in love with them. I'm not." he looked at her aged face the way a little boy looked at his mother for reassurance, "I'm not. Right?"

Trudy loved her boy. She truly did. And she would do anything to make him feel better in a situation as impossible as this. But right now, she couldn't lie to him.

"You wouldn't be asking me if you knew you weren't, baby," she said quietly.

Enzo went back to looking at his lap. he couldn't belive he was talking about this. He couldn't belive he was getting this out. A huge weight seemed to be lifting off his shoulders as his secret came out, but at the same time, it felt absolutley horrible to hear his situation out loud.

"I didn't mean to," he all but whispered, "They... they're about as perfect as any two people can be Mama. They care about me. They genuinely care about me in a way that don't make any sense and... and I don't know why. I can't ruin it by... by falling..." he swallowed, not even able to say it out loud.

He closed his eys, and then felt small calloused hands hold his face. Mama turned Enzo's face until she was looking at him.

"There ain't nobody in the world who can choose who they fall in love with Enzo. Nobody."

"But then why do I gotta get the most impossible ones?" he all but whined, "Why can't I ever get a fair shot? Why's it always gotta suck so much for me?"

For once, Mama didn't have an answer. She wanted to tell him that he had a chance. That he shouldn't give up. That there was always hope.

She couldn't seem to get it out.

"I'm gonna go fix us some tea, all right?"

Enzo nodded with a slight sigh. Tea. It did seem to do a lot of good, so he wasn't about to say no.

Mama stood up, and kissed the top of Enzo's head before leaving his room and making towards the kitchen.

Enzo was left sitting on the edge of his bed, his eyes shining. He set his elbows on his knees and let out a heavy sigh.

"Fuck," he breathed.

He had been able to shove it away before. He'd been managing to kinda ignore these feelings. To shove them away when they came or to play them off as nothing or to just kinda... forget about them a bit. And he guessed it had been working.

But now that they were out of his head and said out loud, it seemed that his heart was heavier than it had ever been. Saying it out loud... it made it real. All too real, and he didn't like it. But there was no turning it away now. There was no more denying it.

He loved them. He was... he was in love with Dean and Roman.

Fuck, even thinking it hurt like hell.

He loved them. And it was shit. It was all utter shit and he couldn't do a single thing about it. Not a thing.

With a slight groan, Enzo fell back onto his matrass, draping an arm over his face and swallowing hard to get the insufferablee lump out of his throat.

It didn't seem to be going anywhere. He doubted it ever would.

In the kitchen, Mama was busy making the best pot of tea she knew how. With lemon and mint and spoonfuls of honey.

God knew her baby needed it.

She was just about done when the back door opened, and she heard the voices coming in. Dean and Roman seemed to be done with that hammock,

and when they stumbled into the kitchen the first thing she saw was the fact that their hands were tightly intertwined.

They did make a beautiful couple.

Mama sighed. Damn.

"Mama, you're still up?" Roman was the first to speak.

"I'm always up, baby." she gave him a soft smile.

"Damn that smells gooood," sang Dean as he moved towards her. He saw the pot and raised his eyebrows, "Mama that's the sweetest smelling tea I've ever smelled." he grinned his crooked grin and Mama chuckled.

"If you want some you just gotta ask, Dean."

His grin widened and he kissed her cheek, "Thank you muchly." he started to go to the cupboard for some teacups, and then he slowed to a stop.

"You shouldn't be up so late Mama," he said, suddenly not so upbeat.

Roman noticed the change in his voice and frowned. Roman, looked at Trudy with a frown, and for the first time he wondered why the hell she was up past midnight making tea. In a pot that was way too big to be just hers. He glanced at Dean, and they seemed to realise at the same time.

Dean blinked at Mama, "You know, Enzo once told us that... that at night when he can't sleep or... or when he's not feeing so great, you make him tea."

Trudy nodded slowly as she took the pot off the stove, "That's right, I do."

Roman stood up slowly from the kitchen table, "Is... is he okay?" he asked quietly.

Trudy wanted to say that he was fine. She really did. But then she looked at them, and the concern on their faces made her tilt her head. That feeling that she had gotten that first time she had talked to Roman was back, and still, she didn't know what to make of it.

With a small sigh, Mama turned back to the tea, "You too wanna take this to him?" she asked as she filled three cups, purposefully not answering Roman's question.

Dean was immidiately by her side, "Sure. Yeah, we'll take this."

"You get some sleep Mama." said Roman, going to grab two cups while Dean took one, "We'll take care of him."

She couldn't help but raise her eyebrows, "You'll take care of him?"

Dean nodded, giving her a small smile, "We will."

In the seconds it took for Dean and Roman to smile at Trudy and take the teacups, she saw it.

That same look that she had seen before in Roman's eyes, The look she had seen all week when she hadn't been quite looking.

That look she'd seen in Enzo's eyes when she found him gazing at them on his hammock.

That look that had taken her far too long to notice.

It was there.

Dean and Roman were long gone by the time Trudy blinked again.

She heard a laugh from the bedroom. Enzo's laugh.

Trudy let out a small smile.

She hoped she wasn't getting ahead of herself, but she could feel it in her third eye.

And the feeling told her that Enzo's love wasn't as unrequited as he thought after all.


	19. Broken Breaths

As soon as they walked into the Nashville Tennessee hotel room, Dean found the bed and threw himself face down onto it, "Nobody talk to me, I'm dying now."

"What about dinner?" Roman asked.

Dean paused a bit, "Nobody talk to me until dinner time." he mumbled.

"Dinner was hours ago," muttered Enzo, "but we were too busy driving to eat." he shot Roman a look, and Roman stuck his chin up.

"Ya'll better not be expecting me to apologise."

"Oh you just made us drive 7 hours instead of flying for two." huffed Dean, "That's completely reasonable, why would we want you to apologize?"

"Your sarcasm ain't doing nothing but making you more tired," Roman called out as he went to the bathroom.

Roman had point blank refused to do any more unnecessary flying. And no amount of pleading or convincing could change his mind. Before leaving Mama's house, he had stood outside the car with crossed arms and a stern face.

"I get it, okay," he had said firmly, "I get that I need to get the flying thing out of my system, and I've done that. But I miss my car and I miss the ground, okay? So now what we're gonna do is get on that stupid ass plane back to Georgia, get my damn car and drive to Nashville and that's it. Got it?"

The others had obviously tried to argue, and they had obviously lost terribly, so another nail biting flight for Roman got them to Georgia, back into the dark blue truck, and back on the road.

The drove for six hours and finally arrived in Nashville just before midnight.

"I'm calling first shower," Roman called out from the bathroom, "You're welcome to join me once you stop bitchnig."

Now Enzo knew that Roman wasn't talking to him. He knew it. But still a part of him almost leapt up at the idea of a shower with him. He almost had to hold himself down and he cursed at himself as he clenched his hands together.

Fucking pathetic.

Dean was still face down on the bed, muttering curses at Roman about unnecessarily long drives and no pit stops and stupid fears and stupid boyfriends. He seemed determined to stay mad, but as soon as the sound of the shower started, his head went up like a dog hearing a whistle.

He rolled off the bed and all but gravitated towards the bathroom, "Okay wait, I'm coming," he yelled. just before he stepped into the bathroom he turned around, "You good Enzo?"

He nodded his head, swallowing, "Yeah. yeah, Im'ma just gonna go get something to eat." he forced a grin onto his face, "Ya'll have fun,"

Dean winked, and then disappeared behind the bathroom door.

Enzo didn't know how long he sat on his bed, staring at that door. Wishing like hell that he could be on the other side of it. In there with them.

Ever since he had finally admitted the extent of his feelings to himself, everything had seemed to get a whole lot harder.

Sure, it had only been a day, but it had been a really difficult day. Especially when they had brought him tea to his room the night before and stayed up talking the whole night. And when Dean had made him blush like mad when he winked and laughed as Enzo beeped through the machines at the airport again. And also when Roman held his hand during the flight again. And when halfway through the drive, Dean had gotten into the backseat to sleep and threw his head on Enzo's lap as he took a nap. Or when...

Enzo shook his head with a gulp. He could go on and on and on about the little things that Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns did that just made want to melt into their arms and just stay there.

It's like they were doing it on purpose. like they knew how he felt and just wanted to make it worse for him.

Enzo heard a loud gasp over the shower spray, followed by a tingling laugh. He closed his eyes and threw himself back on the bed, hating himself as he felt his pants start to tighten.

This wasn't right. This was just plain unfair. Whoever was in charge of things out there hated the hell out of Enzo and it just wasn't fair.

Another laugh from the bathroom, and Enzo was up off the bed. Nope, he couldn't do this. Not today.

He grabbed Roman's car keys off the table and was out the door within seconds. He might as well get the food he had lied about earlier.

But as he drove around Nashville, Enzo didn't find himself stopping anywhere. He just kept driving, not sure where he was going. but not really wanting to stop. He'd been driving for about half an hour when he stopped at the side of some road. He led the engine keep going and he leaned his head back against the head rest with a groan.

Finally thinking that a destination would probably be a good idea, Enzo pulled out his phone, with the intention of looking up good takeaway places in Nashville.

Somehow, instead of the internet, Enzo found himself on his contacts. Just scrolling. Slowly. Through his contacts.

Until he got to the name he didn't even know he was looking for.

Corey Graves.

Enzo shook his head at himself. This was dumb. He couldn't just keep bothering this guy every time he wanted to run away from Roman and Dean. It was just stupid.

But then again, Corey was so used to Enzo bothering him by now, he kinda expected it right? So just for old time's sake, Enzo might as well bother him one more time...

Once again, Enoz's fingers moved on their own accord, and all of a sudden he was sending a text.

Enzo didn't expect a reply, and he didn't get one. not until ten minutes later when his phone beeped and he grabbed for it. He let out a grin, and turned the car around.

:::

Corey was already in bed when his phone beeped on the pillow next to him. He opened his eyes groggily and glared at the offending piece of machinery. He dragged his arm to get the phone and squinted at the incoming message.

 _'You in Nashville yet?'_

Corey snarled when he saw who the message was from.

He threw the phone back onto the pillow, all ready to ignore the stupid message. He did not have time for Amore. He had been at the gym all day, and he was physically exhausted. He didn't need Amore to add onto that and make him mentally exhausted too. He was all ready to settle back down, but not two minutes later, his phone rang again. A call this time instead of a message.

He groaned at his phone when he saw the Caller ID. The stupid thing had lit up more this week than it had in the past weeks combined.

He brought the phone to his ear as he answered it.

"What?"

" _Hi!_ " the ever perky voice replied.

"Leah," Corey growled, "How many times have I told you to stop calling me?"

 _"Including now?"_ she . asked, _"I'd say about fourteen. Depending on whether or not you count the time you hung up before I started talking."_

"Shouldn't that be telling you something?" Corey asked wearily, "I want you to stop calling!"

 _"Don't be such a grump Graves, you should be excited! It's RAW tomorrow."_

"Yeah. I know, I work there!"

 _"Isn't that so cool!"_ she squealed.

Corey rubbed his face wearily, "You need to leave me alone, alright? Stop calling."

There was a sigh on the other end of the line, " _You know, you keep saying that,"_ she said slowly _, "But if you really want to be left alone so much, why do you keep answering my calls?"_

Corey opened his mouth to fire back, but the words stuck in his throat. He looked for an answer. And he couldn't find one. Almost thirty seconds passed in silence as he tried to find an answer. And he couldn't.

He huffed, "What do you want Leah?"

 _"i was just saying goodnight,"_ she said, " _And I wanted to ask how your day went. The usual."_

"My day was fine. Goodnight. Now, are we done?"

" _Do you want me to tell you about my day?"_

"Why would I care about your day, Mayne?" Corey growled at her.

 _"Because you like talking to me._ " Corey could almost fee her shrug. He scoffed.

"So you're deluded as well as annoying?"

Leah just giggled, _"I mean don't get me wrong, I know you don't like me and stuff. So the fact that you're willing to talk to me so much must mean you're hella lonely, so hearing about my day kinda helps with that, right?"_

Corey blinked. What did she just say to him? He stared at the ceiling for a while, not saying anything for a few seconds.

"I'm not lonely," he said in a voice that wasn't half as menacing as he had meant it to be.

 _"You think so?"_ Leah said again, _"I mean, here you are, talking to a girl you clearly dislike, which makes me think it's cause you probably have no one else to talk to. Except maybe Enzo, but this whole week you've just been telling me how you were a 'two night stand' and that's it, or whatever. But to be honest i think you'er gonna get together with him again sometime this week. 'Cause you're probably not gonna wanna to talk to me for a while after this and he'll be your only backup for human contact outside of work."_ Corey was left blinking at the ceiling as he listened to his brain be picked apart, _"Am I about right?"_

He sat up angrily, holding the phone tight in his hand, "Who the hell do you think you are?" he hissed at Leah.

 _"I'm a psychology student. I'm sorry, I can't help it. But at least now you know what's wrong with you, right?"_

"You are so full of-"

" _Oh look at that, I have to go. Talk later Corey, bye."_

Corey stared at his phone as she hung up on him. All week long this girl had been bugging the hell out of him with her constant phone calls and her unrelenting perkiness. And not once had she hung up on him. He was the one who hung up. Always. He had half a mind to call back just so he cold hang up again. But then he decided that that was childish and stupid and unnecessary. And he'd be proving her right.

And she was so not right.

Lonely? Please. Corey was not lonely. He enjoyed his own company. He was alone because he wanted to be. That's how he liked it. As if he talked to Leah and Amore to fill some kind of void.

As. if.

Leah Mayne was full of shit and he wasn't gonna think about her anymore. Or her stupid brother.

Suddenly, as if on it's own accord, Corey's head turned slowly back to his phone.

Her stupid brother, who had just now sent a message asking where he was. He looked at the phone with narrowed eyes. The light still blinking at the unopened message. He grabbed the phone with a sigh. He'd just open the message to get the annoying light to stop. That's the only reason he was opening it. But then he stayed on the message. And then he found himself typing. And then he found himself sending.

Once the message was sent, Corey threw an arm over his face.

This proved nothing.

Not ten minutes later, Corey heard the sound of his doorbell ringing. He sighed loudly, wondering, not for the first time, what the hell was wrong with him. He didn't feel like getting out of bed, so he grabbed his phone again, sending a quick text saying that the door was open.

He heard the door open and close, and then those lumbering footsteps were in his house.

"Graves?" he heard a yell from down the stairs.

"Up the stairs," he called back.

As the footsteps came up the stairs and down the hall, stopping to look into rooms, Corey just lay in bed wondering again what the hell was wrong with him.

Finally, the door to Corey's bedroom opened, and in popped that ridiculous head of hair.

"Hey!" he grinned letting himself in, "I didn't know you lived in Nashville."

"Well why would you? Corey drawled.

"True," Enzo shrugged as he took off his jacket and dropped it onto the floor as he moved further into the room. Corey snarled. He hadn't been here two minutes an he was already messing the place up.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

Enzo shrugged, "You sent me your address."

"Yeah, I know that, just-" he sighed, "What do you want?"

Enzo shrugged again. He was doing that a lot, "I guess I was bored."

"So you texted me cause you're bored?"

"Well you must've been bored too if you texted back," Enzo said. He had now reached the bed and was looking down at Corey. Suddenly a smile crossed his face.

"Are you naked under there?"

Instinctively, Corey looked down at his body, covered only in boxers and the bed sheets.

"No," he said firmly, "That is not what you're here for. We're not doing that anymore."

Enzo shrugged again, "Alright then," he started kicking off his shoes and Corey raised his eyebrows.

"What- what are you doing?"

"Would you rather I get in your bed with my shoes on?" he asked.

"Why are you getting in my bed? I just said that we're not-"

"Calm down, Graves, I ain't tryina seduce you, I'm just gonna sit. What you want me to stand by your bedside the whole time?"

Enzo didn't wait for an answer, and he just lifted the covers on the empty side and invited himself into Corey's bed.

Corey fumed, "What the fuck is up with you Jersey foster kids and boundaries?"

Enzo snapped his head to him with wide eyes, "What you just say?"

"Yeah, your little foster sister told me. The little sister who's been blowing up my phone all week and not leaving me alone, Much like you're doing right now!"

Enzo raised his eyebrow, "My little sister? You've been talking to Leah?"

"Yes. Leah," he spat out the name, "You need to tell her to back off, alright?"

Enzo scoffed, "Why don't _you_ tell Leah what to do, see how that works out."

Corey just rolled his eyes and threw his head back onto the pillow.

"Hang on," Enzo's voice was much softer, "She... she told you we're foster kids?"

Corey nodded, "Yeah. She thought you told me, because she thought we're dating."

Enzo laughed and let his head fall back on the headboard, "Of course she did. I swear you tell that girl anything and she twists it into a love story."

Corey chuckled, "Yeah, she seems the type."

"Well you get used to it," Enzo shrugged, "She means well. Plus she's real easy to love."

Corey rolled her eyes, "She speaks real highly of you too. Can't image why though,"

"Hey," Enzp shoved him lightly, laughing, "I am pretty great you know. Deep down you love me."

Corey raised an eyebrow.

Enzo shurgged, "Or you at least tolerate me."

Corey chuckled, "Better."

"I bet you tolerate me a lot better when I'm naked."

Corey turned to him slowly, "What happened to not seducing me?"

"Yeah I meant to stick with that, but right now you're looking real hot and real naked and I'm just lying in your bed. And all this talk about how much you tolerate me is getting me all hot and shit."

Corey couldn't help but laugh again, "This is your ides of seducing?"

Enzo rolled over with a smirk so that he was almost on top of the half naked Corey, "Well, it's working ain't it."

Corey didn't know if it was the smirk, or if it was that look in his eyes, or if it really was his stupid words, but damn him, it was working. And Corey's thin silk boxers weren't doing a good job of hiding it.

The fact wasn't lost on Enzo, and when he saw it, his smirk widened, "You can tell me to leave if you want," he said lowly.

Corey's eyes couldn't help but steal a glance at those teasing lips, and then look back up at Enzo's eyes, "So what, I'm your little sex toy now?"

Enzo just gave a slight shrug. He placed a hand on Corey's naked chest letting a finger trace soft circles, "Maybe. Or... or I could be yours."

Ignoring every voice of reason he had, Corey returned a smirk. He was up and on top on Enzo in a split second.

"I like the sound of that a lot better," he whispered, his lips a breath away from Amore's.

Enzo grinned, his hand tracing up Corey's back, "I think I like it too."

All talking took a back seat then, as Corey's lips claimed Enzo's in a hungry kiss.

Enzo returned it eagerly, on hand gripping around Corey's back, the other grabbing the back of his head.

Corey's earlier tiredness was forgotten. He had a hot man underneath him right now, never mind that it was Enzo Amore, and he wanted his clothes off.

His hands groped at Enzo's top, and he broke the kiss, sitting up enough to pull it over Enzo's head.

"Not wasting any time, huh?" Enzo gave him half a grin.

Corey smirked back as Enzo lifted his hip to slip his pants off, "The sooner I fuck the shit out of you the sooner you're gone."

Enzo chuckled back, "You talk so hot."

Corey's smirk widened and his hands traveled down Enzo's chest and stopped just under his bellybutton. He hooked his finger on the elastic of Enzo's boxers, making him gasp.

"Shut up Amore," he breathed as he bit hard on his earlobe. His hand traveled lower, slipping under the boxer shorts, and Enzo let out a sharp gasp.

"I'm shutting up," he gasped as Corey's hand moved, "Fuck, I'm shutting up."

Corey grinned, returning his lips to Enzo's.

Enzo's hips bucked up as Corey's hand stoked his semi into full-mast.

He couldn't keep the whimpers under control, and he couldn't help but moan as Corey's thumb brushed over his tip.

"Fuck Graves."

Corey's lips moved from Enzo's mouth to his neck, grabbing his hair and pulling his head back to expose the pale skin. the nibbles sent tingles down Enzo's neck to his chest.

His nails dug into Corey's back, and Corey hissed in pleasure. Feeling the shiver under his hand, Enzo dragged his nails up and down Corey's back, digging in and earning those delightful shivers that transferred to Enzo's own body.

Enzo's hips bucked up at a particularly hard tug, and his hard cock, jerked against Corey's, earning a hard gasp from the man on top.

"Fuck," Corey groaned into Enzo's neck. Suddenly, his hand was gone, and he was grinding himself against Enzo, nothing but their thin boxers in the way.

Enzo's whimpering gasps where music to Corey's ears as his hips bucked up against his.

Both men were throbbing for some skin on skin contact, and Enzo was done waiting for it.

"Corey," he moaned, "I'm gonna need you fuck me. Now."

Graves had no objections. He sat up, taking Enzo with him. Once again, Corey's mouth went to Enzo's ear.

"Turn around," he whispered.

His Gravely voice sent a shiver down Enzo's spine, and he was all too eager to comply. Before Enzo's hands could even grip the sheets, Corey's hands were traveling down his back as his lips planted kisses along the back of his neck. Enzo shivered as the hands went lower, down his back and around his hips and down his legs, taking the boxers with him.

Enzo's hard dick sprung free, rubbing against the soft sheets as it did. The friction was delicious, and Enzo couldn't help but jerk against the bed.

Behind him, Corey could only marvel at Enzo's naked body as he moved desperately against the bed.

"Fuck, Corey, fuck me," he whined. Corey bit his lip, deciding that that was a sentence he wanted tp hear a lot.

With his own boxers off, Corey lines himself up against Enzo, laying on top of him, and turning his head to capture his lips. As he did, a finger found it's way to down to Enzo's ass. Enzo clamped down hard on his lip as it rubbed against his pucker, and then he gasped as it slipped in.

"Oh god," he breathed, throwing his head back. Corey pumped his finger in and out slowly, adding another after a minute. and then another.

"Oh please," Enzo panted, "Please,"

Corey groaned as Enzo begged, and he wondered if he'd ever heard anything so hot.

Enzo let out a breath as Corey's fingers suddenly weren't there anymore, but then he felt something a lot bigger nudge against his hole.

Enzo whimpered, pushing against Corey and telling him to hurry the hell up. But Corey was taking his own damn time.

Enzo kept jerking against the sheets, desperate for the friction Corey wasn't giving him, but suddenly, his jerks were stopped when hands grabbed at his hips and lifted him up onto his knees. Enzo arched his back, hoping to finally get Corey to just fucking fuck him already.

Corey bent over, so his body completely covered Enzo's, before finally pushing himself in, inch by slow inch.

Enzo's pants were heavy as his eyes squeezed shut.

"Fuck!" he gasped, "Oh god yes."

Corey groaned against his ear as he was finally fully seated in Enzo.

He took a moment to steady himself, the pleasure shooting up his body almost too much to handle.

It increased tenfold when he started moving.

"Oh god," Enzo moaned, "Fuck yeah."

Corey bit down on the side of Enzo's neck, and the smaller man turned his head, exposing his neck even more. Corey knew he was leaving marks cut at this point he was beyond caring. He groaned heavily as he thrust into Enzo, again and again.

"Fuck yes," Enzo whimpered again, his own hips jerking back against Corey's, "Fuck yes, Dean."

...

It took Corey a few second to realise what he had just heard. He blinked, and then stared at the back of Enzo's head. Corey was sure that he'd heard wrong, but then again he was sure that he hadn't. Either way, he didn't stop. He couldn't if he tried, because this felt so good. This felt so damn-

"Oh god, Roman don't stop."

...

Okay, that he was sure he'd heard. Corey stared at Enzo head with wide eyes.

What. The fuck?

Enzo threw his head back as he grabbed at his dick, pumping it along with the rhythm of the thrusts. He was so far gone in pleasure that he hadn't even noticed that Corey wasn't moving anymore.

"Fuck," he whimpered, his hand jerking faster, "Fuck fuck fuck!" he threw his head back with a shout as he came, his load spraying all over Corey's sheets. As he climaxed, Enzo's ass squeezed around Corey's dick, sending a jolt up his body, and pulling out an orgasm that Corey hadn't been ready for. for a moment, what Corey had just heard went too the back of his mind as he squeezed his eyes shut and rode out his orgasm.

Enzo and Corey lay a tangled mess, panting on the bed as they waited for that electric feeling to wash over them. Corey pulled out slowly, eliciting a whimper form Enzo when his dick came out with a pop. he rolled over on to his back, still breathing heavily, and looking at the ceiling.

"I thought you said we weren't gonna stop doing that," Enzo chuckled breathily.

He expected a snarky remark, as he was so used to , but next to him, Graves was quiet. Enzo looked to his side and saw the man looking at him with a look in his eyes that Enzo couldn't quite place.

He blinked, "What?"

Corey said nothing, and just kept looking. Enzo looked back, waiting for him to talk or... something. But nothing came.

"Okay dude, it's getting creepy now."

It's then that Corey smirked. He lifted his head and turned, resting his elbow on the bed and his head on his hand, still just looking at Enzo."

"What?" he asked again.

Corey chuckled lowly, "So how long?"

Enzo blinked, "Huh?"

"How long" Corey asked again, "How long you been in love with Ambrose and Reigns?"

For a moment, Enzo's heart stopped. His eyes widened almost comically as he felt his face collapse.

"Wh- what... what are you talking about?"

Corey laughed again, getting all the confirmation he needed, "Ambrose and Reigns? Are you kidding me?"

Enzo shot up on the bad, sitting up and staring at Corey in horror, "How do you know that?" he whispered.

"Well calliing out their names in bed is quite a giveaway, Amore."

Enzo gasped, horrified, and Corey sat up, still laughing.

"You're in love with Dean and Roman? Seriously?"

"I'm not in love with them," he hissed quietly.

"Is that what you're telling yourself?" Corey scoffed, "You think that'll make you get over it?"

"Shut up," Enzo tried to sound menacing, but his shaking voice took that away, "Just... just shut up."

"They're a fucking couple, and you're in love with them?" Corey's mocking voice felt like stabs all over Enzo's chest.

"Stop it," he all but begged.

"Dude, that's another league of pathetic, even for you."

Enzo swung his legs clumsily over the bed, hiding his face from Corey so he wouldn't see his suddenly wet eyes. He felt around in the dark for his clothes, Corey's mocking laughter behind him.

"The only people outside your family who're willing to put up with you, and you're gonna fuck it up by catching feelings?"

Enzo's shaking hands finally found his pants and he yanked them on, standing up and struggling not to trip over his feet as he all but fled the room.

He could hear Corey's mocking words following him, but he had stopped listening. He was begging himself not to listen.

He was already outside when he realised that the rest of his clothes and shoes were still in Corey's room. Honestly , he couldn't be bothered. He leaped into the car and took off, driving as fast as he could away from that house and that laughter.

Enzo got to the hotel in a daze. He hardly even remembered the drive, but one minute he was speeding away from Corey's house, and the next, he was in the hotel's underground parking lot.

He stayed in the car for a long time, just staring at his shaking hands on the wheel.

He knew.

Oh god he knew.

Of all the people in the world, Corey fucking Graves _knew._

And Enzo hadn't even denied it. When he heard Corey say those words he just... he froze. He froze and he gave himself away and now Corey Graves _knew._

Dean and Roman would know within the day. There was no way Corey would keep this to himself. No way he wouldn't tell them. Or tell everyone. The last time Enzo had something personal going on, Corey had broadcast it to the entire WWE Universe. He'd exposed Enzo to everyone.

The last time Corey Graves had something to say about Enzo, he had cried in the ring in front of millions of people. What would keep him from doing it this time? What would keep him from humiliating Enzo all over again?

Enzo let his head fall over to the steering wheel and he shut his eyes as he tried to keep his breaths steady. Now was not the time for a panic attack. Right now there was no Dean and Roman to keep him calm or catch him if he fell or feed him tea.

Oh god...

Oh god, Dean and Roman. What would they do? What would they say? How would they look at him when they found out that...

Oh god, what was Enzo going to do?

He didn't know how long it took for him to get his breathing back to semi-steady, but once it did, Enzo braved leaving the car. He took a step and didn't fall. So he took another. and then another, and another and another until he was finally inside the hotel.

His steps went slower as he neared the hotel room. Where Dean and Roman were probably waiting to scold him about where he'd disappeared to with the car.

Would they be able to tell? Apparently Enzo sucked at hiding things, so what if they could tell? What if...

Enzo shook his head, trying to get rid of all the thoughts as he slid the room key through the door.

As soon as it opened, the sound of a squeaking bed and heavy panting was unmistakable.

Enzo squeezed his eyes shut.

Oh god. He did not need this right now.

As quietly as he could, Enzo slid the door closed again. He turned around and leaned against the wood, letting his head fall back and closing his eyes.

He kept breathing. Just breathing. Concentrating on his breathing. Just-

"Enzo?"

His eyes snapped open, and he saw a frowning face with a tilted blonde head in front of him.

"'Mella," he breahted, "Hey,"

"What are you doing?" she asked, "You kinda look like crap. And where the hell are your clothes?"

Enzo gulped, not ready to answer any of those questions., "Can I stay in your room for a while?" he said instead.

Carmella was all ready to demand answers instead, but one look at Enzo told her that what the man needed right now was to fucking sit down. And maybe some whiskey.

"Alright, come on." she held out her hand and Enzo took it, and she led him further down the hall and into her room.

Carmella had already decorated according to her likes, which meant lots of pink and lots of print.

Enzo would have looked around more, but he wasn't feeling too good.

"You got some booze?"" he asked breathily.

Carmella looked at him strangely, "Uh, yeah, mini fridge is packed."

Enzo nodded his thanks and went straight to it Carmella stared open mouthed as she watched him down a tiny bottle of Jack Daniels in three gulps.

He tossed the bottle away and grabbed for another.

"Okay what is going on right now" Carmella held her hands up.

Enzo made a face as the alcohol burned past his throat,"Nothin," he coughed, "Just... I just need this."

She looked at him worriedly as three more mini bottles were thrown down his throat.

"Okay that's enough!" she finally said, slamming the mini fridge door closed, "Now you know I'm all for a good party, but not when it's a day before you have RAW and especially not when you're fucking half naked and crying."

Enzo blinked at her, "I'm... I'm not crying." he gulped.

Carmella tilted her head, looking at him worriedly. She knelt in front of him and held his face, wiping her thumbs across his cheeks. When she pulled them away, they were wet.

Enzo touched is own face and was shocked to find them wet.

He slumped down, "Fuck," he whimpered. "I'm fucking tired of crying,"

"Enzo what's going on?" Carmella asked again, her voice soft and coaxing, "What happened? Where- where are your clothes?"

Enzo sniffed, "I.. I left them at his house. I... I had to get out of there so I left 'em."

"Get out of where?"she tried, "Who's house, 'Zo?"

Enzo just shook his head, "'Mella, I'm fucked." he whispered, "I'm so fucked."

Carmella knew then that she wouldn't get any answers tonight. And she knew that asking some more would get her no where.

She sighed, "Come on, she coaxed, "Come on, let's get you to bed."

:::

When they heard the knock on the door, Dean and Roman all but leapt up to it. He was back.

They had been worried sick.

Enzo had left hours ago to get some food and he hadn't come back. He wasn't answering his phone and they had no idea where to look.

Of course, Dean and Roman had a pretty strong feeling where he was, but since they had no idea who this secret boyfriend he kept running to was, they couldn't just relax and _not_ worry.

It was like... they were made to worry about Enzo. And when he didn't come back, they couldn't help but start a mild panic.

But now he was back, and they were ready to start yelling.

Roman was the first to reach the door, and he yanked it open, ready to scold Enzo for losing the room key.

But it wasn't Enzo at the door.

"Carmella?" he raised his eyebrows.

"Hello to you too, Roman," she sighed, hardly even paying attention to him, "I need you to come get your boy."

Roman raised his eyebrows, "What?"

"Enzo." she rolled her eyes, " He's hogging my bed and I can't carry him, and I don't want to wake him up, so I need you to come get him."

She turned down the hall, not even giving them a chance to answer.

"You've got Enzo?" Dean asked, hopeful.

"I just said so didn't I?" she said over her shoulder, "Now you coming or what?"

Carmella's room was on the same floor, on the other side of the hotel. Dean and Roman followed her in silence, into the large suite and into the bedroom, where sure enough, Enzo lay face down on the bright pink pillow.

"Has he been here all night?" asked Roman.

Carmella shook her head, "Nah, he showed up a couple hours ago all shaky and shit."

"Shaky?" asked Dean, "Why shaky?"

"How should I know?" she popped her gum, "I found him in the hallway and brought him here, then he raided my mini fridge and then threw himself on the bed."

Dean and Roman glanced at each other worriedly and then looked back at Enzo.

Roman went over to the bed and brushed the hair out of Enzo's face. His eyelids were puffy and surrounded by red circles. Almost as if he had been...

Roman bit his cheek. Maybe he was getting ahead of himself.

He only took a second to gather the sleeping Enzo into his arms and lift him off the bed.

"Thanks," said Dean by the door, "For getting us."

"No problem," Carmella nodded, "Just... take care of him, alright? He ain't looking too good."

Dean nodded as Roman made towards the door.

"Where're the rest of his clothes?" he asked before they left.

"I don't know," she shrugged.

Dean and Roman both stopped and blinked at her.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Roman asked in a low voice.

She shrugged again, "He came here with no shirt and no shoes. Told me he left them at his house. I don't know who 'he' is either, before you ask. He wouldn't tell me anything."

Dean and Roman just stared at her, not knowing what to make of what she was telling them. They thanked Carmella again as they left her room, and made towards their own room. They walked slowly so as not to wake Enzo. They didn't speak as they walked, and got to the room and lay him on the bed, each absorbed in their own thoughts. but once they shut the bedroom door quietly and made towards the couch, they let out a simultaneous sigh.

Roman was the first to sit on the couch, gesturing for Dean to come over. Roman lay with his legs spread out across the sofa, and Dean settled himself between his thighs, his back pressed against Roman's chest and his head laying on his shoulder with Roman's arms around him.

Roman sighed again as he rested his head against Dean's.

"We both know who this 'he' is, right?"

Dean sighed, "His little mystery boyfriend," he said bitterly, "You don't think he'll tell us who it is, right?"

"I doubt it," Roman said honestly, "especially since it looks like they had a fight tonight."

Dean huffed, "A fight so bad he left most of his clothes at the dude's place."

"Yeah," sighed Roman, "He was wearing his light blue Jordons. He loved those damn shoes, he wouldn't leave them behind unless he really wanted to get out of there.

The two pondered over what the hell kinds fight could be so bad that Enzo would leave behind his favorite Jordons. Roman just tightened his arms around Dean as he tried not to think too hard.

"You know," he said after a while, "his eyes were wet."

It only took a few seconds for Dean to catch on.

He sat up with a gasp, turning to Roman with fire in his eyes, "That bastard made Enzo cry?" he said through gritted teeth.

"Looks like it," Roman said with a forced calm.

Dean grit his teeth together, and Roman pulled him back down in an attempt to calm him.

"You know what?" Dean said slowly, "this dude is really lucky we don't know who he his," he hissed, "Really damn lucky."


	20. Broken Fists

Corey didn't sleep much. And that really pissed him off. He kinda figured that it had something to do with this weird feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He didn't quite know what the feeling was, but he knew that it had started as soon as Enzo had left his house in a sprint.

For a moment, he thought it may be his... his conscious. But he shook the thought out as quickly as it came. That was highly unlikely. He hadn't had a 'conscious' thought in a long time. And besides, his conscious surfacing implied... guilt. And Corey had absolutely nothing to be guilty about.

Nothing at all.

If Enzo didn't want to be ridiculed, then he probably shouldn't always get himself into situations like this.

Falling in love with Ambrose and Reigns? Of all people, Ambrose and Reigns? Seriously?

'Pathetic', was the word Corey had used, because this was fucking pathetic. And Enzo must have known it was, otherwise he wouldn't have taken off running like he had.

So Corey had no reason to feel guilty about anything. Even though for some reason, he couldn't get over that look of horror on Enzo's face when he realized that Corey knew. Or the way his voice had broken as he all but begged Corey to stop laughing at him. Or that utter look of shame as he hid his face away. Or the way he left Corey's room without a glance back...

Corey cleared his throat, shaking his head. No. He wasn't feeling guilty. He didn't feel guilt. Especially when it came to Enzo Amore. Corey strived off being mean to and about Enzo, so why should anything be different now?

Just because they'd fucked a few times? That meant nothing. Sure, he'd had a few decent conversations with the guy. So what? And yeah, he was basically the only person Corey talked to at all these days. And who cared? Why the hell should he feel guilty?

He didn't. And that was it.

Corey nodded at himself and turned to lie on his side. As he did, he caught sight of the jacket that Enzo had thrown onto the floor when he first arrived. The jacket he'd forgotten to take with him as he ran out of the room away from Corey's laughs.

The feeling in his stomach returned again. The feeling that almost felt like guilt but so was not. It didn't go away. In fact, the more he looked at the jacket, the more the feeling grew.

With a huff, Corey threw the covers off himself, getting out of bed and grabbing the jacket. Out of sight out of mind, right? He took the rest of Enzo's clothes and shoes and stuffed them into a duffel bag, setting it by the door and getting back into bed, ready to finally get some sleep and for that stupid feeling to go away.

Unfortunately for him, it didn't work very well.

The fact that Corey got any sleep at all that night was surprising, seeing as his mind was so damn full. It's like his body was rejecting everything he had conditioned himself to. All off a sudden he was getting sleepless nights over something as stupid as making fun of a person he didn't even like. What the hell was up with that?

In the morning, the only thing that had changed much was the fact that instead of glaring at the duffel bag full of Enzo's clothes in the dark, he was glaring at it in the light.

That stupid guilt feeling hadn't gone away. Not as he finally got out of bed or as he went about his daily business or as he readied himself for work.

Finally as he was about to leave, he grabbed the bag of Enzo's clothes, deciding that they were what were haunting him,, and once he gave them back he'd be back to normal. Uncaring and unemotional. Just as it should be.

However, in the Arena, Corey saw Amore almost immediately. As soon as he saw him, he noticed how Enzo was hanging back behind Ambrose and Reigns, as if distancing himself as much as possible. But it seemed the two bodyguards weren't letting him, looking back every few seconds as if to make sure that Enzo was still there.

It was when Ambrose laughed at an unheard joke and threw his arm around Enzo that Corey saw the man's face redden. The slight change went unnoticed by Roman and Dean, but even from here, Corey could see Enzo stiffen under the intimate touch. He saw Enzo bite his bottom lip when Dean squeezed his shoulder, and he licked his lips when Roman ruffled his hair.

Wow. Obvious much? Corey was surprised he hadn't seen this before. In fact, he was surprised that no one else had seen this? Enzo was head over fucking heels, and those two neanderthals had no idea.

Damn, they were stupid.

Corey found himself wondering what the hell Amore saw in these idiots in the first place. Never mind the fact that they were a couple and completely off limits, Corey couldn't help but think that Enzo could do way, way better.

Corey hadn't even realized that he had been watching them so intensely, until his eyes locked with big blue ones.

Enzo's eyes widened when he saw Corey looking at him. Almost immediately, he looked away and muttered something to the two he was with before all but running ahead of them, away from Corey's watchful eye. Corey saw Dean and Roman look after him in surprise, and then look at each other with... worry?

They were worried about Enzo's sudden take off? What was worrying about that?

Corey shook his head, deciding that he was thinking way too much was time to get to work, where he could concentrate on his job and get this Amore business out of his head once and for all.

:::

"Good Evening Ladies and Gentleman and welcome to Monday Night RAW!"

Michael Cole regarded the screaming crowd of Nashville Tennessee, "Three weeks to SummerSlam and the match ups keep coming in!"

"Couldn't have put it better myself Michael," Booker T laughed, "I mean, already on Smackdown Live we got The Usos verses The New Day for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships. They got Naomi and Natalya out for the Smackdown Women's Championship. And Baron Corbin and John Cena are also gonna be battling it out."

"Yeah Booker but right here is Monday Night Raw and just tonight Kurt Angle announced that The Universal Championship will be on the line at SummerSlam."

"That's right, and that stipulation has got me on the edge of my seat," Corey nodded, "If Lesnar loses he has to leave the WWE."

"Yeah, but who the hell could beat Lesnar under odds like that, Graves?"

Corey shrugged at Booker, "Well tonight we're gonna find out who's gonna try, and that will be determined by the triple threat match between Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns."

"I don't know how they do it, gentlemen, but we've only just started off the night and Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman are already at each others necks. Again." nodded Cole. "And as usual it's always a nail biter when it comes to those two. Add a brute force like Samoa Joe into the mix, and we're sure to see some chaos."

"Either way it goes, that SummerSlam is going to be an edge-of-your-seat kinda night." nodded Booker, "And I tell ya, what I'm really looking forward to is that Enzo Amore and Big Cass match."

Corey looked up from the monitor in front of him. "Wait, what?"

"Haven't you been reading your emails Graves?" chuckled Booker T, "Enzo Amore verses Big Cass in a Brooklyn street fight."

"And it gets better than that," nodded Cole, "To make sure there's no interference, Big Cass has made the stipulation that Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns will be hanging twenty feet above the ring in a shark tank."

Kinda forgetting where he was, Corey blinked at the two men next to him, "You've gotta be kidding me."

Cole looked back at him with a raised eyebrow, "The match cards have been on the screen all night Graves, where the hell has your mind been?"

For the first time that night, Corey looked up at the screen above the gorilla and sure enough, the match cards were being displayed for everyone to see. Had he really not been paying that much attention tonight? Right then, Enzo's match showed up on the screen, and there it was.

Enzo Amore verses Big Cass in a Brooklyn Street Fight. Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose suspended above the ring.

"He's gonna die!" Corey found himself gasping. Booker and Cole looked at him,

"What?"

Corey blinked when he realized what he had just yelled for everyone to hear, "Well. I mean. We saw what happened the last time those two were in a ring together. Amore's probably not gonna make it out so easy this time. I mean, should he even be having this match?"

Michael Cole scoffed, "Why do you even care Graves, you hate the guy!"

Corey blinked, and then looked ahead. Right.

He _didn't_ care.

He hated the guy.

Just... for a moment there he had forgotten.

:::

"You're avoiding us,"

Enzo froze as he was leaving the table of the Arena cafeteria. He turned and saw Dean and Roman staring quite intensely at him.

He swallowed, "Huh?"

"You're avoiding us," said Roman again, "You have been all day. And last night."

Enzo blinked, sitting back down, "Uh, no. We were at the gym all day."

"Where you hardly talked," Dean frowned, "The gym is where you usually do all your work ranting."

"I was working out," Enzo shrugged defensively, "I was... you know, in the zone."

The way they glanced at each other and frowned at Enzo made it obvious that they weren't buying it. Enzo gulped,

"And last night I... I went to a friend."

"Your boyfriend," said Roman in what he hoped wasn't a menacing voice.

"He's not my boyfriend," Enzo sighed.

"But somehow you managed to leave half your clothes at his place?" Dean raised an eyebrow.

Enzo looked around to see who was in earshot, "Do we gotta talk about this right now?"

"Well you won't talk anywhere else!" Dean threw his hands up.

Enzo sighed, "Look it's... it's complicated. And he's not my boyfriend."

"So in other words, you're not gonna tell us," Roman kissed his teeth.

"Even though you disappeared yesterday,"

"And then reappeared in Carmella's room instead of ours." Roman glared.

"Without half your clothes," Dean added.

"And have been avoiding us since then," Roman said.

"And call me crazy," said Dean, "But something tells me it has to do with this 'not your boyfriend' guy."

Enzo gulped as they stared him down.

Well, they weren't wrong. He _had_ been avoiding them. And yeah, it had to do with Corey Graves and what had happened the night before. He'd been avoiding the hell out of them.

But he wasn't about to tell them that, obviously. So he had to come up with a believable lie.

"I'm not avoiding you," Enzo said with a sigh, "I'm just... I've been giving you guys some space."

They both regarded him with raised eyebrows.

Enzo sighed, "You know. Couple space. To do... couple things. I mean, before I came along it was just the two of you, so I wanna still let ya have some time alone, you now?"

"We get plenty of time alone," argued Roman.

"Yeah, you're not in the way, you know."

"Okay, even so, it's not like I can always be around. Ain't nobody want a third person around while you get busy between the sheets. I couldn't be around for that."

 _Of course you could!_

The voice inside Dean's head yelled it out at him before he could stop it.

His insides froze for a bit, and he blinked.

What? Did... did he just imply that he wanted Enzo to be around while he and Roman...

What the hell? Where the hell did that come from? Why the hell was...

He shook his head. No, it was obviously just the night getting to him. He was tired, and his brain was acting out. That was all.

Because what the hell kind of thought was that?

He shook his head again, pushing the absurd thought to the back of his mind and hoping it would stay there.

"Anyway," Enzo said, standing up again, "Ya'll got matches anyway. Roman shouldn't you be prepping for your triple threat match? And Dean, your match is in ten minutes why are you still here?"

"I got time," he shrugged.

Enzo rolled his eyes, "Well, good luck. I'll see ya after."

"And where are you going?" Roman asked.

"Uh... the gym," said Enzo, "getting ready for my big match, you know?" he nodded, "See ya,"

And he was gone.

Enzo sighed a sigh of relief as he left the cafeteria.

This was overwhelming. Being around them was so overwhelming it was almost painful. And all that Corey had said the night before brought the sinking reality of the absurdity of his feelings.

Sure, he had already known how absurd this was, but hearing it like that? Hearing the word 'pathetic' hurled at him so many times? It definitely brought things to perspective.

And the perspective showed a bad picture. So right now, Enzo was trying as hard as he could to get himself out of that picture before it was too late.

Enzo was lost in his thoughts as he walked through the Arena. So lost that he was hardly paying attention to his surroundings. That's why he didn't see Corey Graves walking towards him until it was too late to hide.

Seeing the man only a few feet away, Enzo's heart leapt to his throat, and he desperately looked around for an escape. He couldn't be seeing Corey right now. He didn't want to be anywhere near that man. Enzo saw a door, and without even looking to see what was behind it, he dove in, closing it behind him.

He guessed it was too much to hope that Corey would just let him hide in peace, because not a minute later, he hear a voice on the other side of the door.

"Are you seriously trying to hide?"

He closed his eyes. Shit,

"You know I saw you right?"

Still Enzo didn't reply. In the end he didn't need to, because Corey just opened the door and let himself into Enzo's hiding place.

"Leave me alone," he said as soon as Corey was inside.

Corey scoffed, "So that's all it took to get rid of you? Finding out your dirty little secret?"

"What are you even doing here? Shouldn't you be at the announce table or something?"

"Bathroom break." said Corey, "Coach is taking over. And what about you? Shouldn't you be somewhere pining after Dean and Roman?"

"What do you want?" Enzo spat, "You don't think you said enough last night? Or are you here to laugh in my face one last time before you humiliate me?"

"What are you taking about?" scoffed Corey.

"I know you're gonna tell Dean and Roman," Enzo spat out, "I know you want to tell them how sad and stupid and pathetic I am but just... just... just please don't. Please."

Corey saw the the angry look on Enzo's face quickly change to one of pleading desperation, and he sighed.

That goddamn feeling was back again.

When he had seen Enzo dive into this room to hide, Corey had been all willing to let him hide, but as he passed the door, the guilt in the pit of his stomach roared, and Corey had been forced to come in here, knowing that there really was only one way to get rid of the guilty feeling. And now seeing Enzo look at him like this, the guilt just got worse, and Corey didn't like it one bit.

He sighed again, "Look Amore, I just wanted to say... sorry. I'm sorry. Okay? That's it."

Corey hadn't apologized for anything in a long time, and the word felt foreign on his tongue, but he had to say it. As much as he hated to, it had to be said.

"Wh- what?" Enzo stuttered.

Corey sighed. Was he really going to make him say it again?

"I get that last night must've been pretty embarrassing for you, and I know I probably made it worse-"

"Probably?" Enzo scoffed.

Corey rolled his eyes, "Fine, I made it worse for you. And I said some stuff that I probably should't have said. Out loud," he added, "So I'm saying sorry. Okay? There, I said it. Now, we good?"

Enzo blinked at him, trying to figure out if he was being serious. If there was a hidden agenda somewhere. But the blank look on Corey's face showed no hidden anything.

"You're sorry?"

"I just said so didn't I?" he rolled his eyes, "Now are we good or what?"

Enzo blinked at him, "You won't tell them?"

"I'm not gonna tell them," he rolled his eyes, "Cross my heart."

Enzo let out a slight breath, relief flooding over him.

"Thank you." he managed to get out.

Corey just nodded, "Alright, I've apologized, now it's your turn."

Enzo raised his eyebrows, "I'm sorry, what?"

"It's your turn to apologize to me."

"For what?" scoffed Enzo.

"Dude. It doesn't matter who're you're in love with, Amore, but calling out other names while my dick is inside you is not okay!"

Enzo blinked, "I gotta apologize for that? Why do you even care?"

"Of course you have to apologize," scoffed Corey, "It's insulting!"

"But I didn't do it on purpose!"

"I don't care, it's still insulting and i demand an apology."

"Okay, jeez," Enzo held his hands up, "I'm sorry. I honestly didn't mean to I... I was in the moment."

"Yeah, _my_ moment. Other people's names cannot be in my moment."

Enzo nodded, "I'm sorry," he said, "I promise, it won't happen again. Probably."

Corey scoffed, "again? There won't be an 'again'. We're not gonna be doing that anymore."

Enzo shrugged slowly, "Yeah well, you say that every time, Graves."

Corey wanted to retaliate, but it's not like Enzo was wrong.

So he just huffed, sticking his chin up, "Your clothes are in my dressing room, you can come get them at the end of the night."

With that, he spun around, flouncing out of the room. Inside, Enzo took a deep breath. He suddenly felt a whole lot lighter.

Corey wasn't gonna tell. He would keep it to himself .Well, as long as he stuck to his word.

Enzo left the little room feeling a lot better than when he'd entered it.

:::

"Are you yawning?"

Dean blinked at Kurt Angle with weary eyes, "No." he yawned.

"Why the hell are you yawning, Ambrose," Kurt sighed.

"I'm tired, okay!" he threw his hands up, "Roman's been keeping me up."

Kurt made a face, "I... I don't want to hear about you bedroom activities!"

"Wh- no I ain't talking about that," he waved the comment off, "We were driving all day yesterday and then we were up last night and then we hit the gym all day today and I've had about four hours of sleep this whole weekend so yeah," he yawned again, "I'm a bit tired."

"Ambrose, if you need me to postpone your match-"

"Nah, nah, I'm good I'm good let's do this. I got this." He nodded as he sat down waiting for his music to start. He must have dozed off for a second, because next thing Dean knew, he was jerked awake by the loud siren that filled the arena.

"Oh right, that's me," he jumped up, and proceeded to punch the sides of his face multiple times as he bounced out of the gorilla. He turned around at the last second, and frowned at Kurt. "Who am I fighting again?"

"Ambrose go!" Kurt yelled.

Dean shot out before Kurt could start breathing fire. As soon as he was on that ramp and looking at the screaming fans, his fatigue went away completely. He roared back at them as bounced on the balls of his feet. He wasn't tired. He was great.

He got this.

In the gym on the other side of the arena, Roman and Enzo looked up at the screen as Dean made hs way down the ramp.

"He looks like crap," Roman winced.

Enzo nodded, "yeah, he's exhausted."

He frowned at Roman, "In fact, you ain't lookin' too good yourself."

Roman shrugged, brushing it off, "Nah, we're fine."

Honestly, he was quite tired, but he didn't really want to explain to Enzo that they'd spent half the night waiting for him to get back to the hotel. And then spend the next half watching him in his sleep and trying to figure out who the hell his 'not boyfriend' was and what the hell they had been fighting about.

That wasn't really a conversation Roman saw going over well in his head, so he just muffled his yawns and watched Dean on the screen. Anyone else would have interpreted his jumping around the ring as typical Dean Ambrose restlessness, but Roman knew that this was his 'trying to stay awake' restlessness.

And staying awake would do him good here, because it was soon revealed that Dean's opponent was none other than Sheamus. The Bar came out to the ramp in their typical fashion, holding up their championships and shouting to the fans.

"This ain't gonna be a fair match is it," sighed Enzo.

Roman shook his head, "it never is though, is it."

Enzo turned to Roman, "Should... should we get closer? You know... just in case."

Roman hesitated, "Dean wouldn't like that..." he said slowly, "Doesn't like getting saved."

Enzo nodded, "Yeah... yeah he's the type." They watched the screen some more, as Sheamus went into the ring and Cesaro stood behind him, grinning sharkily at Dean.

Roman cleared his throat, "It wouldn't hurt just getting a little closer though," he shrugged.

"Agreed," Enzo nodded quicklly, and they were both up on their feet and out of the gym.

As Enzo and Roman watched Dean's match, much closer to the gym this time, it looked like he wouldn't be needing any saving after all. He was holding his own amazingly in the ring, as per usual. He and Shaemus trading blows, and neither one of them was staying down.

"Looks like Cesaro's actually gonna stay out of it," Enzo nodded at the screen.

Almost immediately after the words were out, Dean managed to get Sheamus in position for what looked like was going to be a vicious 'Dirty Deeds', and then Cesaro jumped onto the apron, stepping in over the second rope.

Dean let go of Sheamus and ran to Cesaro, promptly knocking him back outside the ring. He nodded at his work, but when he turned around, he walked straight into a Brogue kick.

Enzo winced, "I jinxed it, didn't I." he sighed.

They held their breaths as Sheamus went for the pin, and then let them out simultaneously when Dean kicked out at two and a half.

"Should we..."

"No," Roman shook his head, "No he's... he's fine."

And it seemed he was right. For a while at least. Cesaro didn't seem to take lightly the fact that he'd been knocked down, and the two saw him trying to get back into the ring again. Dean did not.

He kept fighting, and winning, his match, and by the time he saw Cesaro coming towards him, it was too late, and the Swiss man brought him down with a vicious clothes-line.

In no time, Sheamus was back on Dean, landing stomps to his chest and stomach.

"Now?" Enzo asked with a wince.

The disqualification bell had rung, so with nothing else to lose, Cesaro joined in the assault.

"Now," Roman nodded.

The two made to sprint towards the ring, but a sudden pop of cheering from the crowd made them pause. They looked back at the screen, and saw that someone had beat them to it.

Seth Rollins was sprinting down the ramp, and was in the ring in not time.

"What the hell?" Roman raised his eyebrows.

The look on the faces of Sheamus and Cesaro seemed to mirror Roman's words when they saw Seth Rollins roll into the ring. They were distracted enough for Dean to manage to land a kick to Sheamus's knee, bringing the Irishman down and allowing Dean to pick up the fight. On the other side of the ring, Seth was handling Cesaro just as well.

Roman stared at the screen, transfixed as he was seeing Dean and Seth together in the ring for the first time in what felt like a lifetime.

But no matter how long ago it had been, they seemed to read each others minds in that ring, as if not a day had passed.

Not even a minute later, Cesaro and Sheamus were laying hurt on the outside, and Seth and Dean were left standing tall in the ring.

The roar from the crowd was nearly deafening. The whole Arena seemed to be screaming, all of them grinning from ear to ear. Even Seth was grinning, raising his arms as he regarded the crowd.

The only person who wasn't smiling was Dean. He was hardly moving, only his chest heaving as he stared at Seth's back as he grinned at the crowd. It took Seth quite a while to realize that he was the only one celebrating.

He turned to look at Dean, who was still glaring at him. He jumped off the middle ropes and made hs way slowly to the middle of the ring. For a while, the two just looked at each other. The whole arena seemd to be holdong his breath.

Enzo and Roman included.

And then Seth held out his arm, his hand in a fist, and the crowd went wild.

Dean did not.

He stared at Seth. And then at his fist, And then back again.

Without a word, or even a snarl, Dean turned away. He rolled out of the ring, and made his way up the ramp, his teeth gritted together and his hands clenched in fists..

"We should go now," said Roman, and the two took off towards the ring. They were nearly at the Gorilla when they saw Dean appear around a corner in a cloud of anger.

As soon as he saw Roman and Enzo, his calm front exploded.

"Did you see that?" he seethed, "Did you fucking see that shit?!"

Before either of them could answer,, another body turned the corner towards them, and it was none other than Seth Rollins.

"Hey," he frowned, "What the hell, man?"

Dean spun around, regarding Seth with a look that could kill, "What the hell?" he said through gritted teeth, "You're asking _me_ what the hell? What the hell was that Rollins?!"

"I was helping you!" Seth glared, "Again! And you just left me hanging out there!"

"I didn't ask for your help!" Dean yelled.

"Oh do you seriously still think you're invisible? That you can take as many people as you want?"

"Of course I can," Dean glared, "And even if I couldn't, and I did need help, I wouldn't want it from you." he stepped up to Seth all in his face, "If I ever need help, the only people I'd want it from are Roman and Enzo, definitely not you, Rollins."

Seth glared, "Well whether you wanted it or not, I saved your ass out there. The least you could have done was acknowledge it."

"What did you expect me to do, give you my fist?" Dean spat.

"Well yeah!"

"Well you must be out of your goddamn mind." Dean shook his head, "That right there is a symbol of brotherhood. Of family. And you are not my family."

Seth glared, "What, and Amore is?"

"Hell yeah he is!" Dean spat.

"Amore?" Seth all but snarled, "Seriously? You'd seriously pick Amore over me? He's nothing!"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Seth was hurled into the wall. Dean's forearm pressed against his throat as he snarled down at him, "Don't you dare say a word about Enzo," his voice was dangerously low, "Enzo wouldn't stab me in the back. Enzo wouldn't crush my head into a cinder block. Enzo wouldn't steal Roman's Championship. Enzo wouldn't fucking leave us."

Seth glared at him, "That was over three years ago Ambrose, when will you get over that?"

It was then that Roman finally decided to intervene before Dean did something he would regret.

He put gentle hands on his shoulders and pulled. Dean reluctantly let Roman's hands pull him away from Seth.

"Just take a walk, alright?" he said lowly into his ear, "It's okay, just take a walk."

Still fuming, Dean turned down the hallway, but not before throwing another deathly glare towards Seth.

Once he was past the corner, only Seth, Roman and Enzo were left in the otherwise empty hallway.

Seth pulled away from the hall, sighing and slapping Roman's shoulder, "Thanks man," he nodded, "I don't know why the hell he isn't over it yet."

Roman turned towards him slowly, "Excuse me?"

"He needs to get over this already. I mean you did. Me and you are cool, right?"

Roman looked at him for a long time.

"No," he finally said lowly, "No, we're not cool, Rollins. I'm not over it."

Seth blinked at him, "What?"

Roman had kept a calm front for Dean, but now he was starting to unravel. Enzo hoped this didn't get physical, because he didn't think he'd do very well trying to break up this fight.

"How the hell would I be over it? After what you did to us? What you did to Dean?"

"What I did to-"

"Do you know the first thing he did after that day?" Roman asked Seth, "You know the first thing Dean did after you stuck that chair in our backs?"

"Roman-"

"He dumped me." Roman swallowed hard, remembering, "Dean dumped me, because of you."

This seemed to be news to Seth, as his eyebrows shot up.

"You hurt him so bad that he decided that he'd be better off having no one rather than risk going through what you put him through. He believed in you so much that when you turned on us, he just gave. On everything. Even on me. I almost lost him, Seth. Because of you. Do you get that? It took me months to get him to trust anyone again. Months. Months of our lives together that we lost. Because of you. So yeah, it might've been three years ago, Seth. But no, I'm not over it. And we are definitely not cool."

With that, Roman turned away from Seth towards a wide eyed Enzo, "I got my match now, please make sure Dean doesn't break a fist punching a wall." He turned away again, and made his way to the gorilla.

He left Enzo and Seth in the corridor. Seth looked at Enzo for a long time.

"And once again... he calls you." he said quietly.

Enzo didn't answer, he only turned around to go find Dean, but Seth';s voice stopped him.

"Why?" he asked, "Why you? How did you get to them so quick?"

Enzo didn't quite understand the question, and luckily, Seth elaborated.

"Even back as the Shield, no one could touch us. No one could even think of getting close to a circle that tight," he said, "And now with just them two, I imagine the circle is a hell of a lot tighter. But within weeks... within weeks, you're just... in. Within weeks, Dean's calling you family. He can't trust a soul unless he's known them for years, and somehow,he trusts you. Why?"

Enzo couldn't have given him a answer even if he had one. Luckily, Seth didn't look like he expected one. He just shook his head, and turned down the hallway.

Just before he turned a corner, Enzo called out.

"Did you ever apologize?"

Seth turned to him with a frown, "What?"

"For what you did to them. Did you ever apologize?"

Seth just looked at him.

"Well, are you sorry?"

Still no answer.

Enzo gave Seth a shrug, "I'm just saying man, an apology can go a long way if you show you mean it."

With that, Enzo went down the same corridor as Dean, hoping he could catch him before he got lost in the maze of the Arena. He left Seth staring after him. Alone in the empty hallway.

:::

Dean was storming down yet another corridor as he fumed. He was beyond pissed. Pissed as hell at the Seth fucking Rollins.

It really bugged him how even after so long, Seth always had such a huge effect on him. He hated it, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

He had been walking around for ages now, turning corners at random and purposefully getting lost. He didn't want anyone to be finding him just yet.

Dean just kept stomping through, his hands clenched tightly into fist and banging against each other. Dean had to make a conscious effort to remember not to punch the walls anymore because apparently that wasn't a good way to vent.

As he turned a corner, there was a yell, "Watch it!"

Dean all but skid to a stop as he almost barralled someone over.

"Watch where the hell you're going, man." Dean looked up to see Corey Graves, looking as if he was leaving his dressing room. Corey Graves rolled his eyes at the man and turned back to the door in front of him, dropping the duffel bag in his hands and making to close and lock the door.

Dean just snarled back, not bothering to answer him, and he made to just carry on his rampage through the arena. But then he looked down, and saw that duffel bag on the floor. And then he saw something sticking out the top. Something that looked much like a shoe. A bright blue shoe...

With a blink, Dean bent over and picked up the bag slowly. He opened it wider, and sure enough, there was the shoe. Two of them in fact. Two light blue Jordans.

Underneath the shoes there was a bright green vest, and a white jacket filled with prints of playboy bunnies.

Enzo's clothes. These were all Enzo's clothes. The ones he hadn't returned with the night before.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Corey snarled at Dean when he saw that he had his duffel bag. He made to grab it back, but Dean's grip did not loosen.

Dean looked up from the bag and looked at Corey.

"It's you."

Corey was never a man to be lost for words. But that was before he saw that look on Dean Ambrose's face.

The man was called the Lunatic Fringe for a reason, but Corey never saw it so clearly as when he saw the deadly look in his eyes, and that twisted snarl on his mouth, or the way the veins were suddenly very visible on his neck, or when he growled a growl that seemed to come straight from his chest.

"It's. You."

Corey just had time to swallow, and then a hand was on his throat, and he was all but barreled through his still slightly open door. The force with which the door was pushed was so strong that it immediately recoiled and slammed back shut, leaving Corey stuck in an empty room with a furious Ambrose.

Corey almost felt as if he flew across the room and against the opposite wall. A furious Ambrose was baring down on him, with a strong forearm pressed against Corey's throat.

Corey wasn't scared of Dean Ambrose, he really wasn't, but anyone would have tried to scream for help when there was an Lunatic crushing their throat.

"It's _you?"_ Dean spat out again, "You're the one Enzo's been with? _You're_ the one who made him like this?"

Corey tried to cough, "what the hell are you-" he gasped loudly as he was cut off by the arm pressing further into his throat.

"I'm talking about the fact that you're the reason Enzo came back to the hotel without most of his clothes last night." he hissed, "You're the one making him sneak around and lie to us?"

Corey tried to wheeze out an answer, but talking was very difficult when his trachea was being crushed.

"It's fucking _you."_ Dean spat again, "Enzo won't tell us what the hell is bothering him because of _you_! What the hell did you do Graves? What the hell did you do to hurt Enzo so bad he won't talk to us about it, huh? _What did you do_?"

Dean was so angry, it took him a while to realize that Corey was scratching at his arm, trying to breath. Dean knew that he should probably let go before he passed out, but damn, he was finding it hard to care. However, with the very tiny part of his brain that was rational, he made himself let go.

He stepped back from the wall as Corey fell back against it with a gasp. He held his hands over his neck letting out hacking coughs as he tried to get oxygen back into his lungs. He looked like he was in severe pain, and Dean was finding it really hard to care.

"You. Fucking. Lunatic!" he yelled once he got his breathing under control, "Who the hell do you think you are, barging in here and _assaulting_ me?"

"I'm the guy who's gonna get back to choking you if you don't start explaining yourself." Dean snarled.

"Explaining myself?" Corey scoffed, "I've got nothing to explain to you Ambrose."

"You fucking hurt Enzo and I want to know what you did."

Corey shook his head with a snarl, "Mine and Enzo's business has absolutely nothing to do with you."

"Enzo's business had everything to do with me," Dean bore down on him, " _I'm_ his friend. Not you, me and Roman. So his business has everything to do with us so you'd better tell me what you did to fuck up whatever relationship you two had."

Corey rolled his eyes, "Would you stop acting like you know what's going on." he snorted, "You're fucking clueless and you don't even know it."

With a heavy growl, Dean stepped forward, all up in Corey's face, "Stop thinking you've got any power here Graves. Enzo's got us, he doesn't need you, so back off. You're nothing." he snarled.

Corey couldn't help but smirk, "Actually, I'm the one whose fucking him. I think that gives me some power."

For some reason, that last comment brought about such a rage in Dean that all he could see was red. His shaking hands somehow found themselves around Corey's neck again, but somehow the weasel slipped away, jumping as far away far the fuming Ambrose as he could.

"You'd better get the fuck out of here, Ambrose," Corey said, rubbing at his neck, "You've already assaulted me enough, now get out before I report it."

Dean could almost feel the smoke coming out of his ears, but he tried to calm himself down. He really did.

It wasn't working.

Graves straightened himself up, smoothing out his suit.

"You think that was assault?" Dean scoffed, "Man, you're lucky I'm the one who found out and not Roman. You wouldn't have gotten off so easy."

With that, Dean stormed out of the dressing room, banging the door so hard it made the walls vibrate.

Graves.

Fucking Graves.

It was _Graves?!_

Corey fucking Graves?

He couldn't believe this.

And the utter audacity of the man, The disrespect! Who the hell did he think he was, talking to Dean like that.

Talking about Enzo like that?

Dean had half a mind to go back there and choke the hell out of him again, but he didn't. Because he knew that if he did, he wouldn't stop.

Dean had been serious, Corey was lucly it hadn't been Roman.

Roman wouldn't have stopped. A tiny part of Dean kinda wished it had been Roman.

 _"Actually, I'm the one whose fucking him. I think that gives me some power."_

The thought came back to Dean and pulled a growl from his chest. Dean punched the wall with all his might.

That fucking Graves!

 _"I'm the one whose fucking him."_

Dean was seeing red. This wasn't right. Corey Graves should not be fucking Enzo.

No one should be fucking Enzo. Ever!

The only person who should be fucking Enzo was Dean and that was it!

Dean took a few more angry steps down the hallway, before he froze to a stop.

Wait... what?

He blinked. What the hell did he just...

Dean blinked at himself again. Frozen in a hallway.

No. No, he didn't just think that. He couldn't have because... because that was insane. Why would he even think that? That was a stupid thing to think. A very inappropriate thing to think. So he was taking it back. He was taking the thought back and he was gonna pretend that he had never thought it because it was a stupid thought and he had no idea where it had come from.

But even as Dean chanted to himself, his mind was going the complete opposite direction. Reminding him of the similar thought that had popped into his mind earlier on. And all the times he had looked at Enzo for what might be considered a little too long. And the times the two had been riding on Rebecca and Dean's whole body flushed at sitting behind him like that. And the inappropriate number of times he had sat wondering what Enzo's Prince Albert looked like. And the way he had snapped when Seth said a bad word about him.

And how for the past week, he had inexplicably detested the thought of Enzo with someone else. How he had been feeling a burning feeling in his stomach every time Dean thought about Enzo with someone else.

And the way Dean had reacted when he found out who that someone was.

Dean felt as if he was being hit by a thousand bricks as he realized that he could finally name that burning feeling.

Jealousy.

He... he was jealous,

The thought of Enzo with Corey Graves, or with anyone for that matter... it made Dean unbelievably... jealous.

Becasue the person Enzo was with... wasn't Dean.

Oh no.

Oh god no.

The wild thoughts running through Dean's mind were overwhelming and unexpected and just too much. His back hit the wall closest to him as he stared at nothing with wide eyes.

Oh no.

No this wasn't good.

This wasn't good at all.


	21. Broken Pans

The drive back to the hotel was quiet.

Too quiet.

Dean was driving, deeming Roman unfit to after his grueling match with Braun Strowman and Samoa Joe. Roman hadn't been successful in his attempt to bag a championship match at SummerSlam, and he hadn't said a word to anyone since the match ended.

Enzo knew he was upset, but didn't realize just how upset he was until they were in the car and Dean ran 3 consecutive red lights without so much as a scold from Roman.

Dean himself hadn't said much either since after his match and his confrontation with Rollins. Enzo hadn't even found him in the arena until it was time to leave, and even then Dean had barely even looked at him. This Rollins thing must've been affecting him a lot more than he was letting on.

Enzo sat in the backseat looking from Dean to Roman and back to Dean as they stared straight ahead at the road.

He cleared his throat, needing this silence to stop, "Sorry you lost your match, Roman."

"I didn't lose," he said immedietly.

Enzo frowned, "But-"

"I wasn't pinned and I didn't tap out, therefore I did not lose. Strowman pinned Joe while I was buried underneath the barricades. So I did not lose."

Enzo nodded, pulling his lips into his mouth.

The silence was back with a vengeance. Dean turned the wheel fast, all but sending Enzo flying to the other side of the car.

"Seat belt," Roman muttered dryly. He didn't even yell at Dean to be careful.

He always yelled at Dean to be careful.

Enzo put his seat belt on and cleared his throat, "Dean," he said quietly, "Sorry about the thing with Rollins."

"I don't care about Rollins." Dean said with a deadpan expression, "He can go to hell for all I care."

Enzo pursed his lips, nodding, "Okay. cool."

He hadn't felt awkwrdness like this in a long time. Well, they hadn't had such a bad night at RAW in a while, so it kinda made sense.

Enzo himself hadn't been so unlucky. He had gone out to the ring to address Big Cass about their SummerSlam match. He would have called Cass out too, but apparently the man wasn't going to be on RAW until the PPV, due to his mysterious face injury.

It seemed that the WWE Universe was completely on Enzo's side for SummerSlam, and it made him a lot more confident about the match.

With that, and the fact that he had cleared things up with Corey, the night hadn't been as awful as Enzo had expected it to be.

As for Dean and Roman...well, this night must've really gotten to these two.

They looked pretty shitty.

Unbeknownst to Enzo, Seth Rollins had nothing to do with Dean's mood. And Roman's anger had very little to do with Roman's clenched fists.

No, all that was owed to the discovery of Enzo's secret boyfriend.

After Roman had limped back to the dressing Room, he had found that Dean had cleared the room of all the other superstars with his growling and punching and pacing.

Before Roman had even opened his mouth to rant about his... not win, Dean had turned to him with fire in his eyes.

"It's Graves." he had said.

Two words. That was all. It took Roman two seconds to realize what he was saying, and all of a sudden Braun Strowman and Samoa Joe took a backseat in his mind.

"It's Graves?" he had growled.

"It's Graves!" Dean had hissed.

Those were the last words they had said to another. The locker room door had opened, and Superstars started pouring in to get their stuff, so they couldn't discuss it further.

And now here they were, in the car with Enzo, who was oblivious to the storm going on in their heads.

Enzo sighed softly when they finally got to the hotel,, and the two stormed out of the car. Roman didn't even yell at Dean for using two parking spaces.

There were still no words as they walked to their room, just each man silently stewing in his anger, and Enzo trailing behind them trying to figure out how to lift their awful mood.

He couldn't count how many times he had been feeling like crap and Dean and Roman had made him feel better. It was about time he returned the favor.

Enzo pulled out his phone and looked for the contact and send the text.

 _E: Can I use your kitchen?_

The reply came only a few seconds later.

 _C: My kitchen?_

 _E: Yeah. No kitchen in the hotel room._

 _C: Why do you need a kitchen?_

 _E: I need to cook._

 _E: I'll be quick, I just really need a kitchen._

On the other side of the town, Corey frowned at his phone. He had to admit that this conversation was confusing him. And curiosity alone is what made him send the next message.

 _C: Fine._

Enzo smiled at his phone when the last message came.

"So what are you guys thinking for dinner?" he asked as he pocketed the phone.

"I'm not hungry," said Dean as he jammed the room key into the slot.

"Of course you are," Enzo scoffed.

"There's only so much Taco Bell a person can eat," said Roman.

Enzo raised his eyebrows. Roman was tired of Taco Bell? Okay, this was serious.

"I'll bring back something good, okay?" he promised, "Don't go to sleep till I get back."

He turned and all but ran down the hallway back to the elevators. Dean and Roman looked after him until he disappeared around a corner.

Roman took a deep breath, "Well by now we know what 'getting food' means." he said though gritted teeth.

"It means fucking Graves," Dean spat, throwing the door open and storming into the room.

:::

When Enzo got to Corey's house, the door was unlocked, so he went in and headed straight for the kitchen. Immediately he started ransacking the cupboards to see what he had to work with. He was checking out the fridge when he heard a yell behind him.

"Amore! What the hell are you doing?"

"Oh hey, there you are," Enzo grinned, "Do you have any cheese?"

Corey blinked, "Dude, you ever heard of knocking?"

"Well... the door was unlocked. And you knew I was coming already."

"That doesn't mean you can just barge into a man's house unannounced." he huffed, tightening his robe angrily.

Enzo grinned, "You're naked under there, ain't you."

Corey just glared at him and Enzo sighed, "Alright, alright, I won't go there. Now, cheese?"

Corey huffed again, and went to the fridge and pulled out the lower drawer to reveal a huge block of Cheddar Cheese.

"Perfect." Enzo grinned.

Corey just looked at him strangely, "Are you gonna explain why the hell you're making a mess of my kitchen at midnight?"

"I'm cooking, obviously," Enzo said, still looking through cupboards, "it was a bad night for Dean and Roman, and they like my cooking so that might make them feel better. Plus they like to eat, and eating always makes people happy, right, so i'm gonna make something real nice for them. Plus, I ain't cooked for them in a while, so I thought I'd just..." Enzo trailed off when he saw the look on Corey's face. He sighed, "Yeah, pathetic, I know."

Corey sat down on one of the island chairs, "I didn't say anything,"

"You were thinking it,"

Corey shrugged, "Well, obviously."

Enzo rolled his eyes and snorted, "Well if it makes me sound any less idiotic, I'm also cooking for me. It calms me down when I'm stressed."

"Why are you stressed?" Corey regretted the question almost as soon as he'd said it, because Enzo would take it as an invitation to talk a whole lot. And sure enough, Enzo turned away from the cupboards and regarded Corey with a sigh.

"SummerSlam." he said, "I'm seriously having second thoughts about this match, man. I don't think I should do it. Do you think it'd be too late for Kurt to cancel it?"

"Well look at that, you're actually thinking smart," Corey snorted, "Of course this match isn't a good idea. The last one was already a complete disaster for you."

Enzo snorted, "Oh no, this ain't about me. I'm not worried, I can take Cass no problem. It's Roman I'm worried about."

Corey blinked, and then frowned, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Well," sighed Enzo, "Don't tell him I told you this, alright? But Roman's scared of heights. Like... terrified. And I don't know how he'll make it twenty feet above the ring for so damn long. Cause trust me, that ain't gonna be a short match."

Corey frowned, putting his elbows on the table in front of him, "Hang on, Reigns is afraid of heights?"

Enzo nodded, "Don't tell him I told you."

Corey brushed off the comment, "That... that's what you're worried about?"

"Well, yeah."

"You..." Corey blinked, "You're having a street fight with Cass and you're worried about fucking Reigns?"

Enzo blinked, thinking, "Am... am I being pathetic right now?"

"So damn pathetic," Corey shook his head. "But if you're so damn scared for your precious Reigns, why would you set yourself up for this match?"

"I didn't," Enzo shrugged, "Cass is the one who wanted the match and wanted Dean and Roman up there."

"Why?" Corey couldn't help but ask.

Enzo shrugged again, "I don't know. Can't ask him either, he's not gonna be at work because of his face injury."

"Face injury?" blinked Corey.

"You didn't see him?" Enzo raised his eyebrows, "His face is pretty smashed up, like someone beat him up really bad. Like... really bad. I have no idea who the hell it was though."

It took only a few moments for the information to go through Corey's head, and for him to put the very obvious pieces together. The pieces that Enzo still seemed completely oblivious about. He just kept working on his special meal while Corey looked at him incredulously.

"So... let me get this straight." he said slowly.

"Yeah?" Enzo answered without looking back at him.

"Someone smashed in Cassady's face... And then Cass just so happens to request an impossible match for you... where Dean and Roman can't get to you to help."

"Yeah, basically," nodded Enzo as he started chopping up some onions.

"And... you don't know who did that to his face."

Enzo shook his head.

"Not even... an idea." Cory tried again.

Enzo just shook his head with a sigh, "No clue, man."

Corey blinked at him, "dude... are you dumb?"

Enzo looked up, confused, "Huh?"

Corey sighed softly. That was answer enough, "Never mind. Just... carry on."

Enzo carried on with his chopping, oblivious to the fact that Corey was staring at him with narrowed eyes. Did he honestly not know? Anyone with half a brain should have been able to see that the reason for Cass's mysterious face injury was obviously Ambrose or Reigns. Thinking about it, it was probably Reigns.

Corey's hand subconciously went to his neck.

 _"Man, you're lucky I'm the one who found out and not Roman. You wouldn't have gotten off so easy."_

Oh yeah, definitley Reigns.

Corey wondered if he should tell Enzo about the fact that Dean had almost choked him unconscious. Or if he should tell him that Roman was the one who'd battered Cass's face. But looking at the oblivious man now made him rethink it. Maybe it'd be better for him to figure it out on his own.

It was a nagging thought though, that Dean and Roman tended to physically hurt people.

People who hurt Enzo.

It was... interesting.

Corey had made Enzo feel like crap yesterday, and that had earned him hands around his throat. He didn't know what Cass had done, but it must've been pretty bad to get his face bashed in.

Maybe Corey really was lucky that Dean had been the one to find out about him. But then again, he'd probably already told Roman by now, so...

Corey narrowed his eyes, "You said you're doing all this because Dean and Roman are pissed?"

"Yeah," nodded Enzo, "Cause of their bad night."

Corey tilted his head, "You sure that's why they're mad?"

Enzo scoffed, "Of course. Why else would they be?"

:::

Back at the hotel, Dean kicked the edge of the sofa, and then cursed at the throbbing in his toe.

"Could you stop kicking stuff?" Roman sighed.

"Can't," said Dean, "I'm trying to pretend it's Graves."

"Are you sure it's Graves?" he asked for the hundredth time, "I mean, how sure are you? Maybe you got it wrong."

"I'm pretty fucking sure," Dean spat.

"It can't be Graves!" Roman threw his hands up, "He's hated Enzo since he got to RAW! He never has a good thing to say about him! I mean, for god's sake he's-"

"I'm sure!' snapped Dean, "I... I talked to him, so I'm sure."

"Well what did he say?"

Dean finally stopped his pacing and clenched his fists in front of him as he looked down at Roman, "I don't know, Ro. I was trying real damn hard not to choke him to death."

"Then how are you sure!"

"I'm the one fucking Enzo!" Dean yelled, "That's what he said to me. 'I'm the one fucking him'. So yeah, I'm pretty damn sure it's Graves."

Roman gaped as the words sunk like tar in his stomach. He stood up in a rage.

"Why the hell would Enzo be fucking Graves!" he all but shrieked, "Of all the people on the roster, his secret boyfriend had to be Corey fucking Graves?"

Dean crossed his arms, "He's an idiot."

"A goddamned idiot," Roman kicked at the couch. This time it was his turn to pace, "What the hell is he thinking? This is al wrong, Enzo should not be fucking Corey Graves."

"Enzo shouldn't be fucking anyone," muttered Dean, sitting heavily on the sofa.

"Exactly!" Roman threw his hands up, "I mean, what the hell is he thinking?"

"I dont know," dean huffed, "But man, we gotta do something."

Roman nodded angrily, "Yeah man, we need to... we need to... what- what should we do? What can we do?"

"I already yelled at him a lot, and that didn't do much so-"

"Well... well maybe if we go to his house and-"

"No." Dean said firmly.

"But Dean-"

"I don't want another Big Cass situation, okay?" said Dean, "Last time we made someone mad, they took it out on Enzo."

Roman clenched his fists together, knowing that Dean was right, but still really not wanting to do nothing.

"That being said," shrugged Dean, "I did kinda threaten to let you at him if he didn't back off, so maybe that'll work."

"Dean, Enzo is probably with Graves right now. I don't think a threat is gonna work."

"He already threatened to report me, Roman! I'm _this_ close to suspension already, and if you actually go after him he'll put you in prison!"

"Why do you keep thinking I'm gonna go to prison! I don't just go around attacking people. Cass was an exception."

"An exception how?"

"I- I don't know!" Roman threw his hands up, "But sometimes Dean, people just need to get beat. And people keep hurting Enzo, so it's our damn duty to beat them!

Dean looked up at the pacing angry Roman and blinked with a frown. He almost seemed even madder than Dean was at this situation. now Dean knew why he was pissed. he'd figured it out earlier that night.

He was jealous. Inexplicably jealous, and he still wasn't sure why. But why was Roman-

Before he could finish the thought, there was a knock on the door. Roman stopped mid yell and turned to it. He stomped over, ready to tell whoever it was to go away because he was busy ranting. He opened the door, and there stood Carmella.

As soon as the door opened and she saw Roman's face, Carmella's eyebrows shot up, "Whoooa, somebody's in a mood." She flipped her hair behind her and reached out to pat his face, "I saw your match honey, and don't worry, even the best of us lose once in a while. Well, not me. I'm Miss Money in the Bank so-"

"Can we help you?" called out Dean's voice from the couch, deciding that he would much rather go back to complaining about Corey Graves.

"I'm looking for Enzo," she said, straining her neck to look into the room, "Could ya tell him to come out here?"

"He's not here." said Roman through gritted teeth.

Carmella raised her eyebrows, "Where is he then?"

"We don't know," answered Roman, "Probably with his boyfriend somewhere."

A shaped blonde eyebrow shot up, "His what?" she gasped, "Enzo has a boyfriend he didn't tell me about?"

"Sucks doesn't it," muttered Dean, now lying on the couch with a pillow clutched to his chest.

"Wait, is this the same guy who made him cry last night?"

"Well we can't be sure considering he doesn't fucking tell us anything." snarled Roman.

Carmella was too busy pulling her phone out of her pocket to notice the hostility that was all but radiating from the room, "Alright, I'm gonna find him, he still owes me a lot of Vodka.

As she started to walk away, Roman called after her, "Uh, when you find him, could you tell us where he is?"

Carmella frowned up at him, "Why don't you just ask him?"

Roman looked at her for a while, finding it hard to come up with an answer. He thought that telling her that he was scared that he might commit murder if he saw Enzo with Graves right now probably wouldn't make much sense to her. Especially since it made even less sense to Roman himself.

In the end, Roman decided not to give her an answer, and he promptly shut the door.

Carmella raised her eyebrows at that. That was weird, right?

But before she could answer herself, a text showed up on her phone, an answer to the message she had just sent. She didn't get much from Enzo, just an address.

She raised an eyebrow again. Was he telling her to go there? She really hadn't been planning on going anywhere at all tonight, but hell, now she was curious.

Before she knew it, Carmella was in her Rental Car and typing in the address on her GPS. When she arrived at the driveway of a large house in the suburbs, she was just as confused as she had been when she left. Even more so when she knocked on the door and none other than Corey Graves answered.

"Corey?" she tilted her head in confusion.

He frowned when he saw her, "Are you lost?"

Carmella as about to think that she was, but then a voice from inside yelled out.

"Is that Carmella?"

"Enzo?"

Graves frowned, "Did you tell her to come here?" he called over his shoulder.

"Yeah! I needed more hands."

Before she could bee invited in, Carmella bypassed Corey and followed the voice. Corey grit his teeth, "What the hell is this, a party?" he muttered as he shut the door.

When Carmella followed Enzo's voice, she wasn't surprised when it let to the kitchen. She was surprised, however, by what she saw in there.

"Uh... what the hell?"

"He's making dinner for Ambrose and Reigns." Corey rolled his eyes as he sat down, a small tub of yogurt in front of him.

Carmella frowned, "Why?"

"They had a bad night," said Enzo as he bustled around the kitchen grabbing more ingredients, "And Roman and Dean are the most happy when they're eating. And they're also real happy when the other one is happy, so making them this dinner is gonna make them doubly happy so it'd be great if you two could shut up and let work alright?"

Carmella was still quite confused, "So you borrowed Graves's kitchen in the middle of the night so you could make dinner to make your travel buddies happy..." she said slowly, "I'm gonna go back to 'why?'"

"Cause he's in love with them,"said Corey as he went over to his fridge.

"I'm sorry what?" choked Carmella.

Enzo's head snapped out of a cupboard and stared at Corey, "Dude! You said you wouldn't tell!"

"I said I wouldn't tell Ambrose and Reigns." he said, grabbing an apple and going back to sit down.

"Hang on!" Carmella shouted, her hands shooting up, "Enzo what did he just say?"

"I said," answered Corey, "He's in love. With Dean and Roman. Yeah, as in both of them."

Carmella's eyes snapped to Enzo, who was glaring daggers at Graves.

He had to look away when he felt a hard slap on his shoulder, "Enzo is he being serious?"

"I-" he looked at her, "I... he... well...kinda." he sighed, "Yeah."

"Enzo!"

"I know," his shoulders slumped, "And before you start, yes, I now they're a couple, and yes, I know I'm stupid, and yes, I know how pathetic this is."

"Couldn't have put it better myself," nodded Corey. He sighed when Enzo glared at him again, "Fine. Sorry."

Carmella's mouth was still open in surprise, and then she crossed her arms and scowled, "Okay, how the hell does this guy know and I don't?"

"'Mella-"

"You told Corey Graves and not me?" she stomped her foot.

"I didn't tell him!"

"Well how does he know?"

"I accidentally said their names while we were having sex," he shrugged.

Carmella's eyes widened, "I'm sorry, while you were _what_?"

Corey's head snapped up, "Hey!" he hissed, "No one's supposed to know about that!"

Enzo just shrugged, "If you're tellin' my secrets, I'm tellin' yours."

"Wait wait wait," Carmella held her fingers to her temples, "You two are... you're-"

"Fuck buddes? Yes." nodded Enzo.

"We are not buddies," Corey snarled.

"Yeah we are," Enzo scoffed, making his way back to the stove, "Get over it already."

Corey threw his spoon down, "We are not-"

"Okay shut up!" Carmella shrieked, causing both boys to shrink back, "Whether or not yous two are friends so don't matter right now. I'm more interested in the fact that you," she jabbed her finger at Enzo, "are in a completely inappropriate love situation. Again!"

"Well I don't do this on purpose you know," Enzo sighed.

"Well why do you always end up falling for the wrong people Enzo?" she huffed desperately.

"Wait wait wait," Corey held up his hand, "Again? You mean you've fallen in love with a couple before?"

"Not a couple," Enzo rolled his eyes, "Just... someone who didn't want me back."

"Who?"

"Me," said Carmella, "Duh."

"And eventually, the feelings passed!" exclaimed Enzo defensivley.

"After two years!"

"And here we are. Still friends." said Enzo, "Which is how I know that this thing with Dean and Roman is gonna pass. Eventually I'll get over it, and in the meantime, I'm just gonna pretend that everything is normal. So it would really be great if you two would shut up about it already, yeah?"

Carmella raised an eyebrow, "You're gonna pretend things are normal?' she scoffed, "Babe, you're making an elaboreate meal for the couple you're in love with, in your boyfriends kitchen. I think you passed 'normal' a while back."

"I am not his boyfriend," Corey cut in.

Carmella just rolled his eyes, "Yeah yeah whatever." A thought suddenly came to her mind, "You know Enzo, why didn't you just fall in love with Corey? That would have been a whole lot easier. Makes more sense too."

Corey almost choked on the apple he was eating, "I'm sorry, in what world does that make sense?"

"Anything makes more sense than wanting Ambrose and Reigns!" exclaimed Carmella.

Corey jabbed a finger at Enzo, "Man, you better not fall in love with me,"

Enzo scoffed, "Believe it or not, I got standards."

"I don't believe anyone who'd want Neanderthals like Ambrose and Reigns has standards," scoffed Corey.

Enzo glared, "Just shut up and grate this cheese for me." he shoved the block in Corey's direction.

Corey looked at the cheese and scoffed, "You're kidding me."

"Well the faster I finish in here, the fasster I'm outta your face, Graves. That's what you wanted, remember?"

Corey seemed to consider it, and was about to say no again, but surprised himself by grabbing the grater.

"Aw how sweet,"Carmella rolled her eyes. "Now you're helping your boyfriend make dinner for his loves."

"Still not my boyfriend," muttered Corey.

"You know 'Mella, you could make yourself useful and help me with the chicken."

She scoffed, "Me. Helping you cook. That's cute. I'm actually going back to the hotel now."

"You can't!" Enzo stopped her, "Im'ma need a ride back when I'm done here."

"Get your boyfriend to drive you back," she rolled her eyes.

"Okay I'm getting sick of the boyfriend crap," growled Corey, "You're starting to sound a lot like Leah."

Carmella gasped, "Leah Mayne? Don't you dare compare me to that girl."

"You find her annoying too?" Corey nodded.

Enzo scoffed, "Nah, she's just bitter because Leah kicked her ass."

Carmella huffed, "My nails were drying, alright. I had no way of defending myself!"

Enzo just laughed, and even Corey let out a chuckle.

Carmella just shook her head, "I don't have to listen to this," she flounced, turning around.

"Aw come on 'Mella," Enzo pouted at her, "You know I'm playing around,"

She just scoffed at him.

"Come on, don't leave. Please? I won't even make you help me."

Carmella rolled her eyes, "I wasn't gonna help you anyway," she muttered, but sat down nonetheless.

Enzo grinned, going back to his work, "Yeah, I love you too."

:::

By the time Enzo's meal was ready, Corey was waiting for them at the door, all but shooing them out.

They were already out the door when Corey stopped him, "Wait, you forgot some."

Enzo turned back with a grin, "nah, I left that for you."

Corey raised an eyebrow, "Oh... okay. uh..."

"The word you're looking for is 'thanks', Enzo grinned, "And you're welcome. Enjoy" he slapped Corey's back, "You see? Having friends has it's perks."

Corey looked at him for a while as he walked down to the driveway. he cleared his throat, "We're still not friends," he said after him, but this time, with a hint of a smile.

Enzo laughed, "Yeah we are!" he called behind him.

Corey stood in the doorway for ages after Carmella's car had disappeared. He finally went back inside and turned towards his house. His suddenly extremley quiet house.

He let out a little sigh as he pushed off the door and walked lazily to the kitchen. He sat down on the counter again, which was laid out with Shepards Pie and some Roast Chicken pieces with various sides.

He sat looking at it for while, and he couldn't help but think about the fact that Enzo would be sharing this meal with Dean and Roman. All of them sitting around and eating and smiling and being happy.

While Corey would sit here eating it by himself.

Corey let out a small sigh and stood up. He took the food and stocked it into the fridge, having suddenly, lost his appetite.

Corey left the kitchen, turning off all the lights, and made his way up the stairs. As he went, he couldn't but realize that the house seemed a whole lot bigger now that Enzo was gone.

And Corey didn't like it.

:::

 **Hello again**

 **Leeh here.**

 **So, I'm getting lots of questions about Corey's involvement in this story, and about how suddenly this triangle is becoming a bit of a square, and surprisingly a lot of people are starting to turn on the Dean/Enzo/Roman couple (uh... trio?) and are really leaning towards Enzo/Corey.**

 **For curiosities sake, I really wanna know which couple/threesome you're rooting for.**

 **Your feedback is always greatly appreciated. :)**

 **-Leeh**


	22. Broken Beds

It was really hard to keep a bad mood going when you were this full. Dean learned that as soon as he had a taste of the glorious meal that Enzo brought back to the hotel.

Dean and Roman had agreed that when Enzo got back, they would calmly sit him down and explain all the reasons why he couldn't be with Corey Graves. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't exactly come up with even one. They had still been ion the process of brainstorming when Enzo showed up carrying in containers full of hot steaming food.

The moment from then to now was quite a blur, but all Dean knew was that having your hnger sated really put the world into a better perspective.

Enzo's smug smirk showed that he knew it too.

"Alright, now ya'll should probably sleep, it's been a long ass day."'

"I second that," yawned Dean.

"What do you mean 'ya'll'?" scoffed Roman, "You better your ass to bed too."

"I just gotta clear up a bit and I'll-"

"You will do no such thing," Roman stopped him with a raised eyebrow.

Dean laughed, "You better listen Enzo, he's using his dad voice."

"I do not have a dad voice," Roman rolled his eyes.

"You so do," laughed Enzo, "'Dean! No driving over the yellow line!'"

Dean laughed as Roman gasped, offended, "I sound nothing like that."

"'Enzo!'" Dean joined in, "'No driving without a license!'"

"Well that's just common sense," he huffed.

"'Dean!'" said Enzo again, "'Take your feet off the dashboard!'"

"'Enzo! Stop hanging your feet out the window!'"

Roman rolled his eyes as the other laughed in his expense, "Why you guys always gotta gang up on me?" he sighed.

"You're just too easy baby," Dean patted his face.

Roman rolled his eyes, "Yeah yeah, whatever." he stood up with a long sigh, "Now, go to sleep, both of you."

"See, you just did it!" grinned Enzo.

Roman sighed with a smile, "You are dangerously close to a timeout."

Enzo just laughed, but finally got up with a yawn, "Alright, I'm, hitting the bathroom and then going to sleep. Happy?"

"Ecstatic." he smiled, watching Enzo until he disappeared into the bathroom.

"I can't get up," Dean whined from the couch, "I'm too tired."

"Get to bed or I swear I'll fucking carry you."

"Oh will you?" smirked Dean. He lay back and stretched his arms out, resting them behind his head, "Let's see then."

Roman raised an eyebrow at him, crossing his arms, "Are you being serious?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" he smirked again, "daddy."

Roman tilted his head slowly, "Did you just..."

"Oh I _did_ just."

Dean bit his lip and raised an eyebrow, waiting. he wasn't disappointed as Roman advanced quickly, going down and scooping Dean up, throwing him over his shoulder.

"Dean laughed as he was heaved up, "Okay, that shouldn't have been so easy, Ro."

"You wanna challenge me again, Ambrose?" Roman said lowly as he bounced up a bit, causing Dean to bounce on his shoulder.

"Okay okay!" he laughed,"You're the winner of all challenges or whatever! Now out me down, yeah?"

"I don't know," Roman sighed slowly, "I kinda like the view from here," He gave Dean's ass a slap, pulling a yelp from the man.

"Oh yeah? Two can play at that game Ro, I will bite the hell out of you."

With a laugh, Roman finally went over to their bed, heaving Dean off of his shoulder and tossing him onto the mattress.

Dean laughed up at him as he bounced up and down before settling onto the bed, "Wel ain't you gonna join me?"

Roman sat on the edge, brushing Dean's unruly hair out of his face, "In a minute. I'd better clean up or else you know Enzo will do it while we're sleeping.

Dean nodded, "I'd offer to help but.. I don't really want to."

Roman laughed, "Yeah, I know." He bent over and captured Dean's lips in a sweet kiss. Dean's hand went behind Roman's hair, pulling him closer to deepen it. Roman let out a moan as Dean's tongue flicked against his own. Dean pulled away slowly, sealing the kiss with a peck on the corner of Roman's mouth.

"Alright then, go do your cleaning."

Roman bit his lip with a groan, "You're gonna be the death of me."

"I know," grinned Dean. He lay back in the bed as Roman went over to the living room, a smile on his face as he watched him leave.

Just then, the door to the bathroom opened, and Enzo stepped out, steam following him as he did. He was wet from head to toe, with nothing on except a towel that was riding way, way too low on his hips.

The smile on Dean's face slowly faded to nothing. He blinked as Enzo scrubbed his hair dry with another white towel, his face completely covered, so he couldn't see the eyes that suddenly couldn't move away.

Dean swallowed as he stared, There was no use denying it now, he was staring. At an almost naked Enzo. And damn what a sight it was.

"Hey, did you guys see those little shampoo bottles?" Enzo asked, "You don't think my hair'll fall out for using all of them, right? I mean, how much shampoo is too much shampoo?"

Dean couldn't have answered if he tried. Hell he could hardly listen. This... this was not good. Not good at all because for the first time, Dean was noticing that Enzo was fucking hot. Well, he'd noticed it a while ago actually, but now... now he was looking.

Really looking. From his broad shoulders and muscled arms, to his tight stomach, and rough back. All still dripping from his shower, and scattered with random tattoos.

Enzo was still talking about the dangers of shampoo or whatever, but Dean couldn't really process words at the moment. He had to remind himself to swallow, and he couldn't blink if his life depended on it.

Shit.

"Dean!" the yell finally broke him out of his trance, and he blinked rapidly, seeing the look Enzo was giving him, "What's wrong?" he gasped, his hands going up to his hair, "Oh my god, it's falling out isn't it. Can you tell I used all the shampoos?"

Dean gulped, "uh," he croaked, "No no, your hair's still there."

"Okay good," he sighed in relief and turned to get dressed. Dean turned away immediately, staring straight up at the ceiling.

What the hell was going on with him? First thinking all the most inappropriate things, and then being jealous of Graves. and now this? Staring at his naked friend and trying not to drool?

While Roman was in the next room?

Oh god, what the hell was wrong with him?

He stayed staring up at the ceiling, Enzo singing a song Dean didn't know, and Roman bustling around in the next room.

Dean willed him to hurry the hell up and just get to bed already. And... and maybe when he did Enzo could join them too and... oh god what the fuck!?

Dean squeezed his eyes shut, what the actual hell was going on with him? What kind of thoughts were these? It was one thing thinking Enzo was hot. It was a whole other to imagine him in bed with him and Roman.

Another, completely idiotic thing to think.

And he needed to stop now. He needed to stop thinking it. Like now.

Right now please.

When Dean opened his eyes with a deep breath, he saw Enzo in his boxers, getting into bed, "G'night," he yawned as he got under the covers.

"Uh huh," was all Dean managed to get out. He turned his head towards the ceiling again and closed his eyes.

Well that didn't work.

What the hell was he gonna do with this?

When Roman finally came back to bed, he stripped off his top and jeans and snuggled up to Dean, "So, I know I said we could fly to Pensacola tomorrow, but I was thinking, it's only six hours on the road. so, we could just drive, right? We don't really need to fly, right?"

Dean knew that he should be telling Roman that flying was just better, but his mind was a bit preoccupied.

"Uh, sure. Sure whatever."

Roman was too relieved to notice that something was off about the way Dean was answering.

"Thank you," he sighed in relief, kissing his cheek and laying down, draping a hand over Dean's waist. Dean turned into Roman, giving him a slight kiss on the mouth.

"I think I need to go see my dad," he said quietly.

Roman's eyebrows went up. He pulled his head back a bit to look at Dean, "You do?"

"Yeah," sighed Dean.

"Is something wrong?"

"No," she lied, "No, nothing's wrong. Just... it's been a while, you know?"

"Okay," Roman said slowly, "Can we come with?"

"No," Dean said quickly, "No fucking way."

"Dean, am I ever gonna meet your father?"

"Maybe in a couple of years."

"You said that five years ago," scoffed Roman, "I'm gonna start thinking you're keeping me a secret."

"It's _him_ I'm keeping secret." Dean snorted, "You'll meet him eventually," he shrugged, "Maybe if I'm dying and in need of a kidney or something."

Roman chuckled, "Your dad's more than a container for free organs, Dean."

"Yeah yeah, I know," he sighed, "So I'll fly to Ohio in the morning, okay? I'll meet up with you guys in Pensacola."

"Alright," Roman nodded, "Tell your dad I said hi."

"I probably won't," he said honestly.

Roman chuckled, "Yeah, I know."

:::

Dean's father was a difficult man to know. Dean knew that more than anyone. He was rash and rude and mean and sometimes Dean doubted he was even clinically sane.

Maybe that's why they got along so well.

It hadn't always been that way, though. For as long as Dean could remember, he and his dad always butt heads in just about everything they did. The only time that changed was when Dean's father was arrested and send to prison 7 years ago. For some reason, their relationship improved exponentially after that. Probably because they didn't have to see each other all the time.

When they weren't busy fighting about something, Dean was surprised that his dad was actually not so bad. And he wasn't that awful at giving advice either.

It was a far cry from typical fatherly advice, but it was something. And besides, right now, he was his only choice. The only people Dean actually talked to regularly were Roman and Enzo. And there was no fucking way he could talk to either of them about this.

So it looked like this was it.

Which is why the next afternoon found Dean pulling up his rental car in front of the daunting building, the rusted words above the huge metal gates.

 _Ohio State Penitentiary._

"Who you here to see?" growled the guard when Dean got to the front of the visitors line.

"Jonathan Ambrose," said Dean.

The guard laughed, "Good timing, son. Old Jonny just got out of solitary."

Dean sighed, "Again?"

"Sixty days," nodded the guard.

Dean chuckled, "What did he do this time?"

"Tasered the new guard with his own taser," he said, "Made the dude quit after a week."

Dean scoffed, "Do these things still surprise you guys?"

The guard sighed, "Not at all." he gave Dean his visitor's card and sent him through.

The visitors area was just a huge room filled with bolted down tables and chairs for prisoners to sit and talk with their families once in a while. Dean chose the furthest table, took a seat, and waited.

The loud buzzing sound came, and heavy metal doors opened, letting through a flood of men in orange suits. Hugs and kisses and slapping backs were exchanged from loving families as they saw their dads and husbands and brothers and sons. It wasn't quite the same for Dean.

"About fucking time!" Came the gravely voice he was so used to, "I thought you'd finally left me here to fucking rot."

"It's only been two months, dad," sighed Dean heavily.

"Yeah, two months that I spent in fucking solitary. Did you hear what they did to me? If the little fucking newb drops a taser gun in the fucking cafeteria he deserves to be fucking tased, you know what I'm saying? I don't know why I gotta be the one who's fucking punished for it."

Jonathan Ambrose finally sat down, as he continued with his rant, "I hope you brought my stuff Dean. If you didn't bring it you might as well take off right now, because you know that a long two months it's been without my stuff."

Dean rolled his eyes, "yeah yeah, I brought it." he dug into his jacket pocket and pulled out a jumbo packet of jelly babies.

Jony smiled his first smile of the day, "You see," he grabbed the candy, "This is why you're my favourite kid."

"I'm your only kid," Dean rolled his eyes with a smile.

Jony tore into the packet, letting out a long moan as he popped the first piece of candy into his mouth. Dean just looked at him with narrowed eyes. Of all the weird things about his dad, his infatuation with processed sugar was the one that freaked him out the most.

Once Jony opened his eyes after his intimate moment, he looked at Dean with his head tilted, "Alright, what's wrong?"

Dean raised his eyebrows, "Huh?"

"Right about now is when you say something along the lines of 'get a fucking room'. You ain't said a thing, so something obviously ain't right."

Dean scoffed, "No, dad, nothing's wrong."

Jony raised an eyebrow, but then shrugged, "Alrught then. How's work?"

"Good."

"How that little Jojo you don't shut up about?"

"Jojo's great."

"How's Roman?"

"... good."

"Ah hah!" he popped another Jelly baby into his mouth, "There it is. What's up, trouble in paradise?"

"No dad," he sighed, setting his elbows on the table in front of him, "It's... it's not Roman."

Jony's eyebrows shot up, "You broke up, didn't you."

"What?" he scoffed, "No we di-"

"What did he do? He didn't go back to that wife of his did he?"

"What- dad no he-"

"If you broke up 'cause of a work thing I'll bust a cap in your ass right now. Didn't you learn that there're more important things than a goddamn championship!"

"Dad we didn't break up!"

Jony nodded, "Okay then," he popped another couple of jelly babies into his mouth, "So what the hell happened then?"

Dean shrugged. He knew he was here to talk about the... the thing... in his brain... about... Enzo.

Holy shit, if he couldn't even think it without stuttering, how the hell was he supposed to get it out? He'd spent the whole way here thinking about it, with no resolve. He'd hardly slept the night before, just holding onto Roman and knowing that this was exactly where he wanted to stay forever, but still thinking about how the distance between their bed and Enzo's was too big.

And then wondering what Roman would say if he knew what he was thinking. Or hell, what Enzo would say. He'd freak them both out. Hell, he was freaking himself out. How could he be thinking this? The gnawing feeling of guilt wouldn't leave his stomach, and he had no idea what to do about it.

"Dean," Jony frowned, "You're not cheating on him are you?"

"What?" Dean spluttered, "Why would you... why do... I'm not! I'd never do that dad, you know I wouldn't."

"Well then how come you have that guilty look on your face whenever I mention him?"

Dean blinked, not realizing that he was giving so much away with just his face. He let out a long sigh, "It doesn't count as cheating if it's just in my head, right?"

Jony let out a long sigh and leaned back in his chair, "Alright. Tell me what's going on."

And so Dean did. From the moment they started travelling with Enzo, to becoming friends with him, and then becoming best friends with him. To the day he came back to the hotel room smelling like sex, and the unreasonable anger that Dean felt, and then finally to the night before, when he realised that he was fucking jealous of Corey Graves, because he wanted to be in his shoes.

When he finished talking, Dean waited for words of wisdom from his father, but Jony just sat there, looking at him with narrowed eyes and a tilted head.

"So let me get this straight," Jony said slowly, "You and Roman made friends with some other hot wrestler dude, but now instead of just being friendly you wanna fuck the other guy too?'

Dean blinked, "That... that's not what I said, Dad."

"Yeah but it's what you meant," he shrugged, "Let's not beat around the bush here, son."

Dean just glared at him, "Just... just tell me what to do."

"How am i supposed to know?" Jony shrugged, "I ain't never fantasied about fucking a good friend while in bed with my boyfriend."

"Could you stop saying it like that," Dean all but begged. He felt horrible enough about the situation as it was.

"So what, you wanna break up with Roman for this Enzo guy?"

"What?" Dean's eyes widened, "Of course not! Dad, you know I could never leave Roman."

"Yeah, but now this Enzo kid is in the way, right?"

"He's not in the way," Dean shook his head, "It's just... dad I can't stop thinking about him. For weeks now, I can't stop thinking about him. And at first I didn't know why, but now I do and..." he shook his head, swallowing, "I can't fucking look at him without my stomach hurting."

"Ain't that how you used to feel about Roman?"

"It's how I still feel about Roman." Dean clarified, "It's how I'll always feel about Roman.

Jony leaned back with a sigh, "So here's what I'm getting so far," he said slowly, "You're as head over heels in love with Roman as you've always been, which I still don't get, by the way. How you can stay with the same person for five years and still feel the same is beyond me. I mean-"

"Dad, focus."

"Right yeah. So, you still love Roman. But now you're getting these feelings for your new best friend Enzo. Who also happens to be Roman's new best friend."

"Basically."

"So basically, you're lusting after your boyfriend's best friend while you're still madly in love with said boyfriend."

Dean kissed his teeth, "That sounds about right."

Jony sighed, nodding slowly, "Yep. That's quite a pickle you've got yourself in, son."

"Yeah, I know."

"So... so what are you gonna do?"

Dean's eyes widened at his dad, "I don't know! That's why I'm asking you!"

"Well I don't know either!" Jony exclaimed, "I don't think this is a problem most people have."

Dean rubbed is head, "Yeah, I know that."

Jony looked at him for a long time, before finally speaking up, "You know what? Talk to Roman about it."

Dean blinked at him, "Dad, be serious."

"I am being serious. You ain't never heard of a threesome?"

"Oh my god," Dean put his head in his hands, "Just stop."

"I don't know how it works out there with the gays, Dean, but ya'll can have threesomes right."

Dean completely hid behind his hands.

"I mean, lesbians have threesomes," he continued with a shrug, as he popped a jelly baby in his mouth, "Lesbians are just girl gays, right? So if they can have threesomes you can have threesomes. So I say you ask Roman if you can have a threesome with this Enzo kid and get it outta your system."

"Why the hell did I even come here?" Dean asked himself, "Did I really think I'd get useful advice from you?"

"Hey," Jony frowned, "I know things! I'm great for advice."

"No you're not, you suck!"

"I make great judgement calls, son,"

"Dad, you were caught with 6 pounds of cocaine in a Mexican airport. Your judgment is awful."

"Well if I suck at advice so much, why do you keep asking me for it?" Jony crossed his arms.

"Cause you're the only one I can ask!" Dean threw his hands up, "The only other people I talk to are Roman and Enzo, and I fucking well can't ask _them_ about this."

"Right, cause one is your boyfriend and one is the guy you wanna fuck," nodded Jony.

"Exactly," sighed Dean. Hearing it in such crass terms made him wince, but there was honestly no better way to put it.

"So you know what, I gotta go back to my first suggestion," shrugged Jony.

"Don't say it," Dean all but whined.

"You need a fucking threesome."

Dean groaned, "Why the hell is that your only solution for everything!"

Jony scoffed, "What are you talking about? That's not my only solution."

Dean narrowed his eyes, "Back in High School when the Anderson twins both asked me to the prom, what did you say?

"That they'd probably be good for a threesome."

"And when I first told you that the guy I was falling for was married, what did you say?"

Jony shrugged, "Get him and the wife and have a threesome."

"Exactly," nodded Dean, "And when we first started as the Shield and I told you about the two hot guys I was gonna be teaming up with-"

Jonny nodded, "I told you that the best way to get to know each other was a threesome." Jony thought for a second, "Okay you're right, I always suggest a threesome, but there's a reason for that."

"Oh is there?' he scoffed.

"I firmly believe that threesomes can very well be the road to peace in the world."

Dean glared, "Just because you don't believe in monogamy does't mean the rest of the world shouldn't.

Jony scoffed, "Maybe you should take a long hard look at your own situation before you start lecturing me on monogamy, son."

Dean just rolled his eyes., but with the storm of feelings happening in his heart right now, he knew that his dad was right.

"Dad, what should I do?" he sighed, "You know, maybe I should just talk to Roman. Maybe-"

"No!" Jony snapped, "Fuck no, are you fucking kidding? What the hell is it with you kids wanting to tell the truth all the time?"

Dean gaped, "But you said-"

"I said suggest a threesome. You're way past threesome son, you've gone and gotten your feelings involved. telling Roman you wanna fuck Enzo is one thing, Telling him you have feelings for the guy is another."

"But... but I can't just lie to him."

"Why the hell not? You honestly think I got through 20 years married to your mother by telling the truth all the time?"

Dean groaned, holding his head in his hands, "I can't believe I thought talking to you would help anything."

"Neither can I," shrugged Jony, "but since we're already here, I'm what you've got."

Dean sighed, knowing he was right.

Jony let out a long breath, "Look Dean, we both know that I'm bad at this. This Dad thing has been kicking my ass since you were born. I mean, you come to me with your problems and all I can advice is threesomes, I know that's not good advice but it's all I know. You, however," he sighed, "You're good at life. I mean, you got a job you love. You got a fella. You got friends, you got a family. You're doing so damn good. And as far as I can tell this Roman's got a lot to do with that. You and him... it's the real deal. And I don't want you to mess that up for a one time fuck with your friend."

Dean looked down. He knew his dad was right. He knew he was. But...

"This isn't just a one time fuck kinda thing dad. It's not just about... I mean... Enzo's not just... he's-" Dean let out a long sigh, "I don't know. I- I don't know what he is."

Jony shook his head, "he must be real fucking special to get you all riled up like this,"

"I just... this is really fucking me up. I've never even looked at someone else since Roman, and now all of a sudden..." he shook his head, "What do I do? Dad, what am I supposed to do?"


	23. Broken Walls

Dean was already gone when Roman woke up. He knew it even before he opened his eyes, because the bed felt really empty without him.

Roman sat up with a sigh. He couldn't go back to sleep now, it was too cold. He looked over to the other bed and couldn't help but let out a little smile when he saw Enzo sprawled on his bed, limbs in every direction.

Roman had half a mind to just crawl into bed with Enzo and go back to sleep, but he scoffed almost as soon as the thought entered his mind.

Thinking of getting into bed with Enzo? Pssh, He must still be half asleep to be thinking such stupid things. He shook his head at himself and got out of bed.

By the time Enzo woke up, Roman was already showered.

"Why are you up so early?" he yawned.

"Dean left and now the bad is too cold," shrugged Roman.

"Well if that ain't the most sickeningly sweet thing I ever heard," Enzo said with a grin, "Where'd he go?"

"He went to see his dad," said Roman, "In prison."

Enzo's eyebrows shot up, "Oh. Okay cool. You didn't go with him?"

Roman shook his head, "Dean's never actually let me meet his dad..." he shrugged, "Something about not wanting me involved in the prison life or whatever."

Enzo blinked, "That... that don't really make much sense."

"I know! You should tell him that, maybe he'll listen to you."

"Doubtful," said Enzo.

Roman laughed, "Well come on. We're both up, might as well hit the road."

Enzo grinned as he got out of bed, "Does Jojo know we're coming?"

Roman shook his head, "And neither does Gina. And she might be happy we surprised them or mad we didn't say anything."

Enzo chuckled, "It's not easy to predict Gina is it."

"You have no idea," laughed Roman.

:::

"Are we there yet?"

Roman glanced at Enzo with a frown, "We've been driving for an hour."

"Oh. I thought I fell asleep."

"You nodded off for one minute," Roman snorted, "And we got six more hours so if you sleep, I'll get sleepy, so we can't sleep, okay?"

Enzo nodded, sitting up and rubbing his face.

"Six more hours to Pensacola," said Roman, "We could use that time to talk about your strategy for SummerSlam."

Enzo nodded thoughtfully, "Or" he shrugged, 'We could do something that doesn't make me want to jump out of this moving truck."

Roman groaned as he hit his head heavily against the headrest, "What do you have against having a game plan?"

"You see Roman," said Enzo as he turned in his seat, "I like to not think when I'm in a match. Especially a street fight. That's the point of a street fight, man. You use your gut!"

"Or you could use your brain," suggested Roman.

"That's unlikely," scoffed Enzo, "Reigns, I got the gift of gab and the gift of jab. That's what I do. That's what I'm gonna do at SummerSlam."

"How is your mouth gonna help you in this match?" Roman asked honestly.

"Well first of all, I could bite."

Roman stared at him, "That's against the rules!"

"And secondly," Enzo ignored him, "I can run my mouth at him. You know, kill him with words."

Roman glanced at Enzo worriedly, "I don't really see that going too well." he said slowly.

"Why not? I can be mean as hell, you know."

Roman couldn't help but snort, "No you can't."

Enzo seemed insulted, "I can!" he insisted, "I'm a mean person, Reigns. I really am."

Roman tried to keep in his laugh, but failed, "Okay Enzo."

"I am!" he glared, "Ain't you heard me in that ring, I burn my opponents every time!"

"Well yeah," Roman chuckled, "You make jokes about them. That don't count as mean."

"Well it could! It totally could!"

Roman just grinned at him, "You're so cute when you're mad, you know."

Enzo was so offended, he didn't even pause to revel at the fact that Roman had called him cute.

"I ain't cute!" he huffed, "I'm dark and dangerous and very pissed off!"

"Okay Enzo," Roman fought the urge to pinch his cheek.

Enzo was visibly offended by the whole situation. He straight in his chair and looked at the road with a glare. Cute? He'd show him cute.

He looked over at Roman with narrowed eyes, looking for something to insult. It wasn't easy considering he was about as perfect as a human being could be.

"You're big," he finally spat out.

Roman raised an eyebrow at him, "Huh?"

"Too big. It's weird how big you are. I mean, your shoulders are like a truck. You're a goddamned truck, that's how big you are. I bet I could stand behind you and no one would even see me. Cause that's how big you are."

Roman looked at Enzo incredulously, "Is this your idea of mean? Are... are you trying to be insulting?"

Enzo shrugged, "Is it working?"

Roman just grinned at him again, "You're fucking adorable."

Enzo just crossed his arms with a huff, opting to sulk it out. He was still sulking when Roman pulled up at a gas station for a snack run.

"What am I getting you?" he asked as he got out of the car.

"Just something to drink would be good," said Enzo.

"What do you want?"

Enzo thought for a while, "Something as dark and unforgiving as my mean, revengeful soul."

Roman blinked as looked at what seemed to be Enzo's idea of a mean face. He snorted, "Seriously?"

"Hell yeah seriously." he nodded.

Roman blinked a him again, and then shook his head going into the gas station.

When he came back, he handed Enzo a carton of milk.

Enzo stared at the milk with a blank expression, "I'm feeling real insulted right now."

Roman smiled as he started the car, "Yeah, you should be."

:::

Enzo tried to keep his sulking going, but he got bored of it pretty soon. He seemed to find some interest in moving from the front of the car to the back. Repeatedly. while managing to somehow kick Roman in the face, every single time.

"What are you doing?!" Roman finally snapped after his fourth foot to the face.

"I'm trying to find a comfortable position," explained Enzo.

"Enzo it's a truck, you won't get that comfortable."

"Maybe if you'd let me drive a bit I'd-"

"Don't even think about it." said Roman, "Your license ain't back yet and I ain't looking to be bailing you out of jail for driving without one."

From the backseat, Enzo huffed, laying down on across the seats. He started singing along to whatever was on the radio. Even if he didn't know a song, it didn't stop him from finding a beat and going with it.

From the front, Roman listened to him with a smile as he did guitar solos and drum solos as much as he sang.

It didn't sound good in the slightest, but the fact that it was Enzo ruining all these songs put a smile on Roman's face regardless. After a while, Enzo quietened down, and Roman assumed he had fallen asleep, and then he heard a small voice behind him.

"Uh, Roman?"

Roman glanced back to see Enzo lying down, head behind the passenger seat, and staring at the ceiling of the car, "Yeah?"

"I just thought I should let you know that I just ate an M&M off the floor and I might die."

Roman's head snapped around, "You what?"

"It was just sitting there, mocking me. Like 'ha ha, you can't eat me sucka'. So I... I had to eat it."

Roman gaped, "Wh- why the hell would you do that? Do you know how old that thing was? we ain't had M&M's in this car in months!"

"It tasted like laundry," Enzo mused.

Roman hit his head against the headrest in frustration, "Why are you like this?" he all but shrieked, "Do you know how dangerous that could be, Enzo"

"I think it had some fur on it," he blinked.

Roman had to fight the urge to hit his head against the wheel, "If you don't die from food poisoning, I'll kill you."

"No you won't," Enzo smirked, "I'm adorable, remember?"

Roman sighed heavily, finding himself unable to disagree.

Luckily, the M&M didn't seem to cause any lasting damage. Enzo was up and back at his antics in no time.

By the time the car pulled up into the driveway of Roman's home, Enzo was back in the front seat for the eighth time.

Roman let out a huge sigh as he stopped the car, "Once again, thank you for that rendition of the entire Camp Rock soundtrack."

"You're welcome," grinned Enzo.

Roman rolled his eyes with a chuckle as Enzo completely ignored his sarcasm. They got out of the car, opting to leave the bags for now. The door opened as they approached it.

"You're back!" Jojo yelled as she threw the doors open. She turned around, "See mama, I _told_ you!"

Gina appeared behind Jojo and sighed with a smile leaning against the door frame, "You were right sweetie."

Jojo turned back to the grinning pair at the door. She ran up to Roman, jumping up into his arms, "I heard your car from all the way upstairs and I told mommy it was you but she said it wasn't you but it is you and now she owes me money!" Jojo clapped her arms giddily, "I'm getting money, daddy!"

Roman grinned at her, already taking a mile a minute, "I'm so happy for you baby girl,"

"Me too!" she squealed, wrapping her arms around his neck, "I'm happy too!" She saw who stood behind him and gasped, "Enzo!" she looked back at her daddy, "Enzo came back too!"

"We told you he would, didn't we?"

Jojo nodded, "Yeah, you did!" she looked around, and then frowned, "Where's Dean?"

"He's gone to see _his_ daddy," said Roman, "He'll be here tomorrow though,"

"Good!"she grinned, hoping out of Roman's arms. She ran up to Enzo, grabbing his hand, and then grabbing Roman's with her other hand, "Come inside, I gotta tell you about school! Molly Carson growed her hair back but now it's short and fuzzy like a peach!"

Roman and Enzo grinned as they were shepherded into the house having their ears talked off.

They looked at each other over Jojo's head, "Good to be home, huh Enzo?"

"Hell yeah!"

"Enzo that's a bad word!" Jojo gasped, cutting her story in half.

"Shit sorry," Enzo winced.

"Enzo!" Gina yelled, while Roman shook his head with a sigh.

Enzo bit his lip, "I'll just stop talking."

Jojo beamed up at him, "Are you gonna give me money for keeping quiet again?" she asked in what she thought was a whisper.

Enzo looked around at the looks stabbing at him. He cleared his throat, "So, Molly looks like a peach you said?"

:::

They day went on happily for the mismatched family. It was obvious that Dean was missing, but they were all quite looking forward to him coming back. Jojo took great joy in showing Roman and Enzo her homework, even getting them to help her with some sums. Which took a lot longer than any of them thought it would.

Gina muttered something about Joanne and Roman dropping her, and she shot a glare at him extra hard when Jojo pronounced 111 as 'eleventy one'. Some hours later, Gina got up from the living room, deciding to get started on dinner. She recruited Enzo to help her, but Roman had something to say about that.

"Oh no no no no," Roman held out an arm, stopping Enzo, "No cooking for you."

"Why not?" Enzo all but pouted.

"Yeah, why not?" Gina frowned, "If the man wants to help me cook, let him cook."

"Yeah Roman, let him cook." nodded Enzo.

"Yeah daddy, let him cook!" added Jojo, wanting to feel included.

Roman rolled his eyes, "You spent hours cooking yesterday. You gotta stop sweating yourself man. Take a damn break."

"I don't need a break!" Enzo crossed his arms.

Roman placed a shoulder on his hand, standing so close to him that Gina raised an eyebrow. Although Roman was too busy looking at Enzo to notice.

"Come on, just chill a little. Last night was a long night, it was a long drive, you're still recovering from that M&M. Just take a break."

"Yeah, take a break!" jumped in Jojo.

Enzo narrowed his eyes at her, "You traitor," he whispered. Jojo just giggled.

"Come on, Enzo," she grabbed his hand, "Daddy and Momma can cook, and you can come watch a movie with me!"

She dragged him out before he could protest, and Roman smiled out at them. he watched from the doorway as Jojo and Enzo sat down in from of Jojo's DVD cabinet.

"So what are we watching Jo?" grinned Enzo, "Frozen again?"

Jojo made a face, "Frozen is for babies," she crossed her arms, "We're watching UP!"

Enzo's eyes widened, "We can't watch UP Jojo," he shook his head, "If we watch 'Up' I'm gonna start crying in the first five minutes."

Jojo smiled at him sympathetically, "Don't worry Enzo, I can cover your eyes for you if you want."

Enzo smiled, "You will?"

"Uh huh," Jojo grinned, "I'm your best friend, remember? And you know what else?" she gestured for Enzo to come closer so she could whisper in his ear, "Sometimes Dean cries during the beginning too."

Enzo grinned, "Yeah?"

Jojo nodded, "Yeah. Just don;t tell him I told you okay? It's a big secret."

"I pinky swear," Enzo promised.

Jojo grabbed onto his litte finger with her much tinier one with a grin across her little face.

At the living room doorway, Roman was leaning against the frame with a smile on his face. Behind him, Gina watched him watch them with a puzzled look on hers.

When Roman finally saw that he was being watched, he turned to Gina.

"Alright," he clapped his hands, "So what are we cooking?" he went to the kitchen, and Gina followed slowly with a frown.

"The usual," she shrugged, answering his question, "I got work in the morning and Jojo's going to school so nothing big."

"Alright, what do I do?"

"You stay away from the stove," she instructed, "Here, grate this block of cheese."

Roman was pretty insulted that that was the only thing he could be trusted with, but he knew that she was right to keep him away from the hard stuff.

"So," she said, as she went back to the fridge, "What are you now, Amore's keeper?"

Roman scoffed at her, "What are you talkng about?"

"No cooking Enzo," she said in a voice she thought resembled Roman's, "You gotta chill Enoz. Take a break Enzo."

"Okay, I sound nothing like that!"

Gina chuckled, "I'm just saying, Ro."

Roman waved her comment off, "Nah, the dudes gotta chill, he has a big match coming up and stuff."

"Oh yeah, I know," she sighed, "I actually watched RAW yesterday. Sorry you lost by the way."

"I did not lo-"

"Anyway," she ignored him, "I heard Enzo talk about his match. He uh, talked a lot about his match actually, A lot." she shook her head, looking at Roman, "And he also mentioned that you and Dean will be in a... in a shark cage?"

"Yeah," Roman grit his teeth, "That Cassady made sure of it. To make sure we won't be able to help him."

"And he's real sure you'd interfere?"

"Of course we'd interfere," he scoffed, still concentrating on his block of cheese, "You think we'd let that bastarda anywhere near Enzo if we had a choice?"

Gina's eyebrows shot up again as Roman's calm exterior quickly turned cold.

"I mean, I'm not saying Enzo can't hold his own in the ring. He can, I know he can, but I don't wnat to see him in there, you know? I don't want to watch him get beat up, How the hell are we supposed to just chill up in a cage and watch him get beat up? That fucking Cassady is gonna get what;s coming to him Gina. If he hurts Enzo in that ring he;s gonnna get it. Fuck Karma, I'l kill the bastard myself."

Gina had long stopped what she was doing, in favour of staring at Roman with wide eyes as he butchered the block of cheese.

What in the hell?

"Okay," she held her hands up, "Okay, you can stop with the cheese. Thank you."

Roman put the cheese down, but his hands went away with bits of yellow where he had squeezed the block too hard.

"How about you go boil some water?"

Roman went over to the sink with a pot, and ran the tap. But he wasn't done ranting.

"I mean, I wish Enzo would tell Kurt to call this match off, you know? I- We don't wanna see him get hurt. I don't get why Kurt is letting this happen. You don't wanna see him get hurt, do you?"

"Uh no I-"

"Exactly!" he exclaimed, "everyone fucking loves Enzo, you know? And I mean, why wouldn't they, what's not to love? So i don't get why Kurt ain't doing nothing about this Cass situation. The dude should just get fired. People like Cass and Graves should just be gotten rid of, you know?"

By this point, Gina's eyebrows had all but disappeared into her hairline. Was she hearing right?

"You've... you've lost me a bit Roman," she admitted.

"It's just-"before she could continue, ittle Jojo came running into the kitchen, "I need tissues!" she said frantically, "Enzo's about to start crying!"

Gina went over to get some serviettes from the cupboard, but Roman beat her to it. She rolled her eyes, "You're crying for a cartoon, Amore?" she called out.

"It's a completely human reaction!" came the wet reply.

Gina just laughed, but then a glared from Roman stopped her. ONce he handed the serviettes to Jojo and she ran back out into the living room, he turned to her glaring, "Don't be mean to him Gina," he snapped.

Gina stared after him as he went to finally turn off the tap water that had long ago overflown the pot.

What the hell...

The two carried on preparing dinner. Well, Gina prepared dinner, while Roman did everything he was told to do wrongly. Gina made the mistake of asking about the road, and Roman told her. Oh, and he talked a lot. About Dean and about Enzo... and yeah, there was a lot of talk about Enzo.

Gina was used to hearing all about Dean from Roman whenever she would listen. Right now was no different, but she heard Enzo's name in there just as much.

It was... interesting. Incredibly interesting. Gina threw in a comment or a question here and there, and Roman's replies only got her thinking more. By the time food was done, she was pretty sure she had an idea about what was going on here.

It was damn crazy, but she had a real stong feeling.

"Roman," Gina said slowly.

"Uh huh?"

"You remember before you and Dean got together. While you were still pining after him like a puppy?"

He blinked at her, "Yeah, I remember."

"Yeah... and you remember how you could never stop talking about him. You know, before you had the guts to tell him how you felt?"

Roman snorted, "Yea, I remember that too."

"And remember how you would find any excuse to get him to be around just so you could be near him all the time?"

Roman smiled, "Yeah. I remember."

Gina sighed loudly, "Have you noticed how you haven't been away from Enzo for weeks now and you still look at him like you're just waiting for him to get a paper cut?"

Roman shrugged, "Dude gets into trouble a lot."

Gina blinked at Roman for a long time, "Do you really not see where I'm going with this?"

For the first time, Roman looked up at Gina and saw the exasperated look she was giving him.

He blinked, "What?"

Gina just shook her head with wide eyes, "Oh my god."

Roman frowned, "What? What is it?"

Before Gina could answer him, or just stare at him weirdly some more, a skipping Jojo came into the kitchen, "We're gonna play a game." she announced with a grin.

Roman bent down to smile at her, "We are?"

Jojo nodded rapidly, "Come on," she grabbed Roman's hand, "We're gonna play in my room because it has all the toys! Come on momma, you too!"

Gina nodded at her daughter with a smile, "I'll be right there baby." she said, and Jojo dragged Roman out of the room,chatting his ear off as she went.

When they got to Jojo's room, Enzo was already in there, awaiting instructions from the little girl.

"We're playing Snow White!" Jojo grinned at the room, "Daddy, you can be Snow White!"

Roman blinked, "Me? Snow White?"

"Yeah!" grinned Jojo. Behind her, Enzo's grin matched hers.

"Yeah Ro, you can be Snow White!" He seemed to be greatly enjoying the look on Roman's face,

"Baby girl, why don't you be Snow White?"

"'Cause I'm already the seven dwarfs, silly," she shook her head at Roman.

"You're playing all seven?" asked Enzo.

"Uh huh," nodded Jojo, "I'm extra talented."

"Of course," he nodded, "My bad for questioning.

"I forgive you," she smiled at him, "And in the game, you can be the prince."

"You hear that Roman," grinned Enzo, "I'm the prince."

"I can be the prince!" Roman tried again, "I'd be a good prince."

"No daddy, you're Snow White, because of your princess hair!"

Enzo laughed loudly at Roman's little sigh, "My princess hair?"

"Uh huh," she nodded, "It's really long, and really black, like ravens! Like it says in the story. You're perfect for the princess!"

Roman wanted to fight it some more, but he could see he was fighting a losing battle. He sighed, "Alright baby, I'll be the best Snow White ever."

Jojo jumped up and down giddily, "Yay! Let's play! I'm gonna go get mommy, she's gonna be the evil queen."

She ran out at full speed, and Roman chuckled, "Looks like I don't have the worst role after all."

"Ah don't worry about it, Ro," Enzo patted his back, "You'll be a great princess. Just don't forget to do the voice, alright."

"I ain't doing no voice," he scoffed.

"It's for the art, Snow," Enzo insisted, "And maybe we should get you some makeup too."

"You better not say anything to Jojo," he glared.

"Maybe even a dress!"

"Alright that's it!" Roman lunged at Enzo, getting his head under his arm and holding it there. Enzo yelped as he tried to push himself out, but Roman just laughed as he held on tighter, messing up his hair and he cried out, laughing.

When Gina and Jojo came back into the room, Gina raised her eyebrows when she saw Roman on his back, a struggling Enzo on top of him as he tried to get out of the hold.

"Hey!" Jojo yelled, "No fighting! Snow White and the Prince love each other, remember?"

Roman and Enzo finally detached from one another, but Roman's hand didn't leave Enzo's back as they got up.

Gina sighed to herself. Was Roman really not aware of what was going on here?

"Okay," Jojo nodded sternly, "Now we're all ready, so let's play!"

And so they did.

The story of Snow White was replayed through Jojo's direction and memory of the tale. She got some details muddled up, whether on purpose or not was debatable. Like the part where Snow White's evil step mother was a mean ballet teacher by profession. Or the part where the seven dwarfs were secretly pop stars. Or where The evil queen gave Snow White a poison donut instead of an apple.

The adults were having more fun than they'd thought they would, although none of them would admit it. With their own twists in the story, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was a hoot.

But there was one thing that could never change in a princess story. One thing that none of them had thought through.

"Okay Mr, Prince!" Jojo directed, "Now it's time for you to kiss Snow White!"

The following silence only lasted a couple of seconds, but it felt a whole lot longer.

Gina looked up and raised an interested eyebrow from under her evil-hag hood. Enzo froze on his stick horse, almost falling over, and he blinked, processing what Jojo had just told him to do.

Roman was lying down with shoelaces for flowers in his hands and pretending to be dead. When he heard Jojo tell En... the _Prince_ to kiss him, he felt this heart stop beating. For at least two seconds. When it started again, it was way too fast.

Wh- what did she just say?

"Come on Prince!" she said, getting impatient, "You have to kiss the princess or she won't wake up!"

"Uh," to Enzo's embarrassment, his voice had gone croaky. "M- maybe in this story, the Prince could high five Snow White instead." he said, "Or... or boop her on the nose."

"It's the rule, Prince!" she insisted, "You have to kiss the princess!"

 _Yeah, Enzo it's the rule. You_ have _to kiss me._

As soon as the thought was in Roman's brain, he felt his whole body freeze over. It was a good thing he was already playing dead, this way no one would notice that his body had seized function.

Where the hell had that thought come from? Wh... why was he agreeing with Jojo and the stupid story? Why was he thinking about Enzo kissing him? ...Why wasn't the thought going away? Surely he should she getting up now, explaining to Jojo that friends didn't kiss the way Princes and Princesses did. And that's what he and Enzo were... friends. That's all. And friends didn't kiss.

But then why was Roman fighting the urge to purse his lips invitingly?

"Go on, Prince! Kiss him before it's too late!"

Enzo stared down at the sleeping Roman. His lips were dry and his throat was closed and he couldn't quite move his legs anymore.

He was being instructed to kiss Roman. He was... he was supposed to kiss Roman. The thing he had been fantasizing about for ages now, and he was supposed to do it because of a stupid princess game?

He swallowed again, looking at Roman.

This... this was torture. This was unfair. This was mean!

He'd said it once, he'd say it again. Whoever was in charge up there really wanted to see Enzo in fucked up situations. And what better way to fuck up and already fucked up situation by making Roman's daughter command Enzo to kiss him awake?

He was being _told_ to do the one thing he really, really wanted to do, and he couldn't do it. He couldn't fucking kiss Roman as part of a little game. It would kill him!

"Come on Enzo, we can't let the evil queen win! Right momma?"

Gina shrugged, "Queen's gotta lose," she said, slightly disinterested. She was too busy watching the scene with narrowed eyes to pay much attention to what Jojo was saying.

Gina was staring at Roman, and waiting. She knew him well. Very, very well.

This shouldn't be a big deal for Roman. The Prince kissed the Princess, that's how it always worked.

There had been many a time when Roman had had to kiss Gina awake for one of Jojo's games. It was no problem. It was nothing.

Even playing dead on the floor, Gina could tell that Roman wasn't treating this like it was nothing.

A little peck from Enzo shouldn't have mattered at all. But Roman was getting paler by the second. She could she see his adam's apple bop up and down as he swallowed hard, frequently. His hands were tightening around the bouquet of shoelaces. His foot was twitching up and down in a nervous shake.

Had she been paying more attention, Gina would have noticed Enzo's shake too as he dismounted the stick horse and knelt down next to Roman's head. She would have noticed the way he kept licking his drying lips. Or the way he held his breath the closer he got to Roman's face.

Enzo's heart kept stopping as he stared at Roman's lips.

Roman's heart kept beating faster as he felt Enzo get closer.

Gina's eyes kept getting wider as she watched the scene.

Roman waited with held breath. He waited with a clenched jaw an tightly wrung hands and dry lips for Enzo's kiss.

Oh, he waited.

And then it came.

Lips touched his cheek and left in less than a split second. So quick Roman had to wonder if it had actually happened.

No. Scratch that. Roman didn't have to wonder. It had happened. He knew it had, because he could feel them. He could feel Enzo's lips burning into his cheek as if they had left a brand on his skin.

And he could feel the dreaded feeling of disappointment in his chest that he hadn't gotten more.

"You can open your eyes now, Princess! The Prince saved you!" Jojo jumped up and down, throwing lego confetti around as she sang the Princes praises.

Roman blinked his eyes open. He sat up slowly, and Jojo was up and dancing around him, pulling Enzo along for the ride with her. For some reason, as soon as Roman saw Enzo, he had to look away. When he did, his eyes caught Gina's. She was staring at him, her eyes sharp and a single eyebrow raised.

Roman swallowed hard as his own eyes widened, as he remembered what Gina had been saying to him earlier. What she had been telling him, and what he hadn't been understanding.

But the burning lip prints on his cheek had seemed to wake him up, and boy... did he understand her now.

:::

Roman hadn't said much after that game. He was too busy thinking. Thinking and avoiding Gina's eyes.

Soon after the game, she had gone up to him, asking if he wanted to talk. He had shaken his head rapidly and shuffled away. He wasn't quite ready to talk. He was too busy thinking. About Enzo. And the fact that the almost-nothing kiss on his cheek was still burning.

And the fact that now he couldn't stop thinking about it.

It came to him slowly, and then all at once. Those weird stomach feelings he'd been disregarding. Those feelings he'd get whenever he looked at Enzo for too long. Or whenever he hugged him too close. Or whenever he laughed or whenever he smiled.

He thought back to all these weeks and how completely oblivious Roman had been about his own self.

Hell, Gina had seen it on a single evening. How had he missed this? He remembered the night before, fuming at the idea of Enzo with someone else. Feeling sick at the thought of Enzo with Graves.

How hadn't he seen that that was... jealousy? Pure jealousy, all at the fact Enzo was sleeping with Graves and... and not him.

At dinner, Roman tried not to look at Enzo, but he failed miserably.

Now that Roman knew, it seemed he couldn't look away. And apparently, he wasn't hiding it quite well, because Gina's eyes were on him the entire time. But he didn't want to look at Gina.

Looking at her would confirm it. Confirm that she had been right in her musings, and that what Roman was feeling now was true.

That he wasn't looking at Enzo as a friend anymore.

That he hadn't been looking at Enzo as a friend for a while now.

Talking to Gina would confirm the fact that Roman had gone crazy, but he couldn't stay away for long.

Late into the night, when the house was quiet, Roman found himself standing outside Gina's bedroom.

Gina was in bed when there was a knock on her door.

"Come on in Roman," she called out.

Roman opened the door slowly, and Gina could tell just by the way he stood that he had figured it out. She held her hand out, "Come here."

Roman closed the door behind him and climbed in next to Gina. He stared up at the ceiling, not saying anything. Not knowing what to say.

So Gina started for him.

"Remember the last time we lay in bed like this?" she sighed softly, looking at the ceiling.

"We made Joanne?"

Gina laughed loudly, "I'm being serious, Roman."

Roman heaved a loud sigh, "I know. I know." he swallowed loudly, "The last time we lay in bed like this... was the first time I told you that I had feelings for Dean."

"Exactly." Gina nodded, "And here we are again." she looked at him pointedly, "Because of Enzo."

Roman bit down on his lip, still not quite believing the shit that was going on in his mind.

"Gina," he said softly, "I don't understand. I... I don't understand why I'm... why I... what I..." he let out a groan and rubbed his face, "I'm so damn confused."

Gina nodded, "Yeah, me too." she snorted, "Although I'm honestly not that surprised."

Roman turned his head and frowned at her, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean," she turned to look back at him, "Five years it's just been you and Dean. Outside Jimmy and Jey, I don't think you even have any other friends. And then all of a sudden you bring home this Enzo guy, who I'd never even heard of. From the first time he came here I could tell that the way you treated him wasn't the way you treat some random guy you decided to help out."

Roman's eyes widened at her, "When we first came here with him?" he gaped, "Is... is that how long this has been going on?"

Gina frowned, "Why are you asking me? They're your feelings, you should know."

"Well I don't!" he whined, "Well... I didn't. No I _still_ don't. I don't know what's going on! I don't know where the hell this is coming from! I didn't even know that there even _were_ feelings to worry about until today." As he said it, Roman thought again, "Well... maybe before today."

Gina raised an eyebrow, interested, "Go on."

Roman sighed, not really knowing what to go on with, "Well... I guess I have been... looking at him differently for a while. I just never... I never thought about it because I'm with Dean. I love _Dean_. I didn't think it was even possible to think about anyone else that way, and now Enzo..." he gulped, shaking his head, "I've been feeling all weird about him. Especially since-" he paused, not knowing if he should carry on.

"Since what?" asked Gina quietly.

Roman took a breath, not believing that he was actually having this conversation, "Enzo has a boyfriend," he said quietly.

"Oh yeah?"

"Well, he keeps saying he's not his boyfriend, but he might as well be. He spends a lot of time with him, and he talks to him a whole lot. probably more than he talks to me and Dean. And it won't take long for Corey to want more than just sex. Enzo's worth a whole lot more than that."

"Well that's a good thing." said Gina, "it's good that Enzo has someone."

"No it's not! I mean, not this guy. Corey Grave is bad news, Gina. Plus, the other night, he made Enzo cry!"

"Well shit. So they broke up?"

"No," sighed Roman, "They made up and Enzo seems as happy with him as ever."

Gina frowned, "You know, I'd believe that more if you didn't have that look on your face."

"What look?"

"That murder look."

Roman put a hand over his face, "I can't help it," he whined, "I fucking hate Graves."

"Why?" she frowned.

"Because he- because he's with Enzo!" Roman sighed at the look on Gina's face, "I know how stupid and childish that sounds. Trust me, I know. But I can't help it! I mean, I try to be happy for Enzo, I really do, but all that ever happens when I think about him with Corey is me imagining my hands around that bastards neck."

Gina blinked at his snarling face, "Should I be worried here? Do I need to put aside some bail money?"

Roman threw his head back onto the pillow, "I'm not actually gonna do it. Dean won't even let me near Graves after what happened with Cass."

"What happened with Cass?"

Roman swallowed, "That's... that's not important right now. The point is, Enzo shouldn't be with Graves. And there's nothing I can do about it."

"There's nothing you _should_ do about it, Roman. I get you've got these weird feelings going on for Enzo but... the man needs to be happy."

"I know that," he groaned, "I know he does, but wouldn't it be so great it he could be happy without actually having to sleep with anyone else?"

Gina turned and propped herself on her elbow, "You do hear yourself, right?"

Roman turned to look at her, "I get how this sounds Gina. Trust me, I do. And that's why I can't tell him not to be with Corey."

"Well at least you got that part right."

"So maybe you should do it."

Gina blinked, "I'm sorry, what?"

"You can tell him." nodded Roman, "He'll listen to you."

"Tell him what exactly," she frowned.

"To stop fucking around with Graves," he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"And why would I tell him that?"

"Because! Because I-I don't want him to." His voice trailed off as he said it. Roman groaned and sat up, holding his head in his hands, "Oh my god, I sound insane."

"I'm glad you can see that," Gina sighed, "Roman, I understand that you're insanely jealous and possessive and-"

"Hey!" he tried to defend himself.

"But-" Gina ignored him, "That doesn't mean you can just tell people who they can and cannot sleep with."

"But- but it's Enzo!"

"And you don't own him." Gina reminded him.

"Well yeah, but he's still _mine_." Roman insisted, "And Dean would tell you the same thing. He's ours, and Graves can't just take him! I mean, he started this whole thing with Enzo and Cass in the first place, why should we trust him now?"

Gina sat up with a frown, "Started it how exactly?"

"Well," shrugged Roman, "He's the one that told the whole world that the guy attacking Enzo backstage was Cass. It's like he was just looking for something to hurt Enzo."

Gina blinked tilting her head, "He told Enzo that Cass was the one attacking him?"

"In front of the whole WWE Universe," Roman shook his head, "What an asshole, right?"

"Actually," Gina said slowly, "Sounds to me like he was helping him out."

Roman's head snapped to her, "I'm sorry what?"

She shrugged, "He showed Enzo Cass's true colours. This Corey sounds like a good guy to me."

Roman gaped at her, "Gina! Who's side are you on?!"

"The side of sense!" she threw her hands up, "Something that you seem to have none of."

"None of this makes sense Gina! I'm in bed with my ex wife while the love of my life is visiting his father in prison and we're talking about how I have feelings for our best friend. None of this makes sense, okay?" he lay back down with a huff, throwing an arm over his eyes. "I passed that stage a long time ago."

Gina looked at him with sad eyes as he lay there, "It must suck. Having all these feelings."

Roman nodded behind his arm, "I really does."


	24. Broken Brains

Roman was woken up by the ringing of his cell phone. He hadn't ended up going back to his room, and had slept in Gina's. He groped at the pocket of his jeans and saw the time, and the caller ID.

He frowned as he answered the phone, "Dean?"

"Roman!" came the voice on the other end, "Hey, Roman. How are you?"

He sounded weird on the other line, and Roman sat up, "Dean?" he said again.

"Uh yeah. Yeah it's me. Dean. Your boyfriend," there was a sound that sounded a lot like a giggle, but that couldn't be right. Dean didn't giggle, "You hear that? It's your boyfriend on the phone."

There was that giggle again, and Roman wondered if he was still asleep.

"Are you okay?" he asked slowly.

"Oh yeah I'm great. I'm super super great. And I'm at the airport. So... so could you come get me? At the airport. Which is where I am. "

"It's so early why are-"

"Okay see you then, okay?"

"Wha- Dean-" but he had already hung up. Roman just shook his head with a confused sigh and swung his legs over the bed, grabbing his shirt as he did.

There was a stirring next to him, "What are you doing?" mumbled Gina.

"Going to get Dean at the airport," he answered, "It's okay, go back to sleep."

Gina nodded putting her head back down, "Don't tell him we were in bed together, he might get jealous."

Roman laughed, "Noted."

He scaled down the stairs, yawning, and made for the door. He saw Enzo sleeping twisted on the couch, and he smiled as he let out a snort like snore. He'd take him up to bed once he got Dean back from the airport.

Roman made his way to the car, and just as he was about to unlock it, he heard something in the bushes that lined the long driveway. Roman froze, turning towards the sound slowly, and the sound came again.

Now, every horror movie he had ever watched told him to high tail it out of there as fast as possible, but then Roman heard something that sounded suspiciously like a sneeze. And he knew that sneeze. He went over to the bushes and squinted in the dark, and sure enough, there he was.

"Dean?"

The shadow in the bushes looked up, and then gasped.

"Roman!" he beamed, "You're here already? Whoa that was quick."

Blinking, Roman crouched down. Dean was sitting cross legged on the floor, with little leaves in his hair and surrounded by bush.

"What in the hell..."

"How'd you get to the airport so quick, Ro? Did you fly? See, I always knew you were Superman." he grinned crookedly, and Roman sighed.

"Dean, we're not at the airport, we're in the driveway."

Dean blinked, "I didn't know Superman could teleport."

Roman was torn between scolding him or laughing at him, "Wow, you are so drunk right now,"

"Just... just a little bit," he said, shrinking down, "And it's not my fault, those air hostesses kept giving me free wine!"

"Dean!" Roman groaned, "You know wine fucks you up man, you're not supposed to drink it in public places!"

"Well what was I supposed to do?" he crossed his arms, "It was free! You're not allowed to say no to free things, it's the rule!"

Roman smacked a hand to his face and he let out a long breath, "Alright, come on, let's get you inside before you fall off a tree."

"Okay," Dean said softly. He tried to stand up, but his legs wouldn't work. Roman held out his hand to held him, but Dean swatted it away, saying he wasn't that drunk. He kinda swallowed his words though when he all but fell out of the bush with an oomf.

Roman was trying not to laugh at his struggle, and then he noticed something else, "Dean," he said slowly, "Where is your shirt?"

Dean looked down at his body and seemed surprised to find himself shirtless, "I don't... I don't know. I don't, oh yeah!" he snapped his fingers, "I gave it to my Uber driver. I couldn't find any cash to tip him so I gave him my shirt. He was nice,"

Roman couldn't help but shake his head with a laugh, "Alright, it's time to get you inside before you freeze to death,"

Dean scoffed, "It's too hot to freeze to death,"

"It's 3 in the morning Dean, trust me, it's not."

He bent down and scooped Dean up in his arms, deeming him unfit to walk.

Dean gasped as he was lifted up, "How are you doing that? I'm really heavy!"

Roman grinned, "I'm Superman, remember?"

Dean laughed, "Yeah, you are."

Carrying a sober Dean was never an easy task, but carrying a drunk Dean made that seem like a piece of cake. He kept wriggling around and taking bites out of Roman's shoulder and laughing at whatever was going on in his head. By the time Roman made it into the house and closed the door, he was damn near exhausted.

"Okay, Dean we gotta be quiet now, alright? Everybody's still sleeping."

Dean nodded, "Oh yeah, I'm totally quiet," he said, in what he probably thought was a whisper.

Roman just shook his head as he made his way to the stairs, but a gasp stopped him, "Hey look, it's Enzo on the couch."

They both looked over and saw Enzo. He was no longer snoring, but his breaths seemed to be coming in irregular pants.

"Do you think he's having a nightmare?" whispered Dean.

Roman frowned worriedly, "I think he might be. Don't worry, I'll take him to bed once I've got you settled, alright?"

Dean nodded, "Alright, you do that." He lay his head on Roman's chest as he yawned.

"Roman?" he said.

"Yeah?"

"I think we should sleep with Enzo."

Roman almost toppled down the staircase as a breath got stuck in his throat. Luckily, Dean didn't notice the stumble. Roman knew that Dean didn't mean it the way Roman was thinking it, but still, hearing those words out of Dean's mouth took his breath away. And thinking about it... he felt all the blood rush down to his pants.

Unbeknownst to Roman, Dean had meant exactly what he was thinking. Dean was holding his breath. He wanted to slap himself as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He knew he'd promised his dad he'd talk to Roman about all this, but right now, as he was drunk and being carried to bed, it probably wasn't the best time, so he quickly spoke up again.

"You know, on the couch. In case he has a bad dream again. You know." the words were coming out slurred, and the tiny tiny part of Dean's brain that was sober prayed that Roman would take his earlier comment as nothing but drunken rambling. Luck was on his side, because Roman chuckled and kept going up the stairs.

"If you really want to, I can take him up to our bed. You know, to make sure he doesn't have nightmares."

Roman knew that he was going to hell. Taking advantage of a drunken Dean's ramblings so that Enzo could sleep in their bed? This was despicable. Here Dean was, being a good friend and wanting to help Enzo sleep well, and Roman was with his stupid, perverted, adulterous thoughts. He was going to hell. He was going to hell and he felt terrible.

But that didn't mean he was going to pass up the chance of Enzo sleeping in their bed.

You know, in case of nightmares.

Finally, getting to their bedroom, Roman lay Dean softly on their bed.

"You made the bed already," slurred Dean as he lay down, It's so clean in here."

Roman chuckled, "That's cause I didn't sleep in here,"

"Were you sleeping with Enzo?"

Once again, Roman choked on his spit. He knew that Dean didn't mean it like _that_ , but the thought came into his head against his will, and he felt his blood flow downwards again.

Once again, unbeknownst to Roman, Dean had meant it _exactly_ that way, and the thought had the exact same effect on him, but Dean gulped, deciding he should probably change the statement again before he let out that he'd been thinking about Enzo and Roman sleeping together for the entire plane ride from Ohio to Florida. Hence all the wine.

"You know," Dean continued in a slur, "To keep him from nightmares."

As he swallowed again, Roman shook his head, "No. No I wasn't... sleeping... with him."

"Oh," Dean hoped he was hiding his disappointment well, "Okay."

They looked at each other in silence for a second, before Roman cleared his throat.

"Alright, Im'ma go get Enzo now," said Roman as he pulled the covers from the bottom of the bed and over Dean, "If... if that's what you still want."

Dean nodded quickly, "'Cause of the nightmares."

Roman nodded, and then bent over to kiss Dean on the forehead. Dean was smiling up at him when he stood back up.

Dean closed his eyes and gulped as Roman left the room.

Oh no. He was such a bad person. Luckily, he could blame it on being drunk. He knew he was doing wrong. Both on Romans part and on Enzo's. Roman, because he didn't know the incredibly inappropriate thoughts that were going on in Dean's mind. And Enzo, because the dude probably wouldn't want to wake up in bed with Roman and Dean. He'd think it was creepy, and he'd be right.

But when Roman came back to the rooom carrying an unconcious Enzo, Dean found it hard to care about morals anymore.

He was gonna go ahead and blame it on the wine.

Dean rolled over on the bed so there was space for Enzo. He tried not to stare as Roman lay him down. All the thoughts that had plagued him on the plane came back in a rush, and Dean's heart clenched. Once Roman had the covers safely over Enzo, he went onto the other side of the bed and got in beside Dean. Dean's heart was beating really hard, both from feeling absolutely terrible and because he had both Enzo and Roman in bed on either side of him and holy shit it felt good.

The latter reason is what won over in the end.

He lay on his back with a goofy smile on his face. He turned his face to ROman, who was also smiling at him.

"You're so pretty," he sighed.

Roman chuckled, "Thanks baby."

"It's not fair how pretty you are." he continued, "It's like you're one of those Roman statues who just came to life." he continued, "I bet that's why your name is Roman. Your parents knew how pretty you'd turn out." Roman grinned at Dean's drunken musings as he continued, "Yeah, they must've known you'd turn out pretty. Cause you weren't pretty when you were a baby. You were a really ugly baby."

Roman laughed quietly, trying not to wake Enzo, "You don't even know how cute you are, do you."

Dean scoffed, "I ain't cute, I'm a hunk."

"Yeah yeah, that's what I meant."

Dean narrowed his eyes, "Take it back. Take the cute thing back."

Roman nodded, "You're not cute at all, Ambrose, you're a hot hot hunk."

Dean grinned crookedly, "Yeah, I know. If anyone's cute it's Enzo." Dean cursed at himself. Damn this stupid wine!

"You know," he tried to recover, "Because he's so little."

Roman swallowed, "Yeah. That's why he's cute."

"Uh huh," Dean nodded, "It's the little-ness."

Roman chuckled again, brushing a lock of dirty blond hair out of his face, "Alright, go to sleep now okay?"

Dean nodded, "Alright." he yawned, "Im'ma go to sleep now." He closed his eyes with a smile when Roman kissed his forehead.

Roman didn't close his eyes, he just kept looking at him, he just kept staring as Dean slept. Well, he thought he was sleeping, but then he started singing softly.

" _I was a little too tall, could've used a few pounds,"_ he slurred,

 _"Tight pants points, hardly renown,"_

"Bob Seger?" chuckled Roman, "Really."

"Hell yeah really," said Dean eyes still closed. He carried on,

" _She was a black haired beauty with big dark eyes._

 _And points all her own, sitting way up high."_

Dean paused as he allowed for the guitar solo in his head. He opened his eyes and smiled, "That's you," he whispered, "You're the black haired beauty with big dark eyes."

Roman grinned, "well tha-" but Dean put a finger to his lips as he carried on.

 _"Out past the cornfields where the woods got heavy._

 _Out on the backseat of my '60 Chevy."_

Roman smiled as Dean sang under his breath, already half asleep. It was amazing how he could forget how to walk, but would never forget the lyrics to a song he loved. Roman listened to the beautiful voice as it serenaded him, from start to finish.

 _"Ain't it funny how the night moves,"_ he finished softly,

 _"When you don't seem to have as much to lose._

 _Strange how the night moves._

 _With Autumn closing in."_

The last word was a whisper, as he finally sang himself to sleep. Roman didn't sleep. He propped himself up on his elbow and gazed adoringly at the now fast asleep Dean. Occasionally, his eyes would stray behind Dean, landing on an equally peaceful looking Enzo. He tried not to, but it was impossible.

He'd only realised his feelings the night before, and not staring was impossible at this point. Incredibley wrong and very innapropriate, but unbelievably impossible.

But of all the feelings bombarding his head and heart at the moment, Roman realized that guilt wasn't one of them. He should be feeling incredibly guilty staring at Enzo as much as he was staring Dean, but the feeling just wasn't coming.

Instead, he just wondered what it would be like if Dean turned around a bit and had his arms around Enzo. And what it would be like if Enzo's head was just tucked into the crook of Dean's neck a little. Or what it would be like if Dean was a little closer to Enzo and Roman could wrap his arm around both of them. For a split second, he thought about whether they'd wake up if he just... rearranged them a little.

He shut that thought down as soon as it came.

Roman closed his eyes tightly, realizing that with thoughts like that surfacing, it was definitely time for sleep.

:::

Gina didn't know how long she stood at the doorway staring inside the room.

She wasn't quite sure what she was looking at.

She had gotten up to wake Jojo for school, and when she passed Dean and Roman's room, she just had to stop and wonder what the hell it was that she was looking it.

They were in there. All three of them. She wouldn't have thought much of it if it weren't for the conversation she and Roman had had last night. But just last night he had been telling her that he had feelings for Enzo while still in love with Dean. and now here he was... in bed... with both of them.

So... like... what the fuck?

Gina must've been standing there longer than she thought, because pretty soon, she heard a door open down the hallway.

Joanne came out of her room in her purple pajamas with her stuffed pineapple under her arm. She was yawning and rubbing her eye, with her hair a messy halo above her head.

"Momma," she yawned, going to Gina, "You forgot to wake me up. Did I miss school?"

Gina shook her head, "No sweetie, you're just in time. Let's go get you ready." She made to close the door, but Jojo got to it before she did. She managed to get a look into the room, and she gasped, dropping her pineapple.

"Dean!" she cried, "Dean's back!"

Her shriek cause a ripple affect in the room, Enzo jumping up in fright, causing Dean's arm to move and wake him up, causing him to elbow Roman in the gut to wake him up.

Jojo didn't seem to realize the ripple she'd caused, and she ran into the room with a grin on her face.

The half awake men were roused fully when the little girl leapt onto the bed, little knees and elbows jabbing everywhere until she was sitting on Dean's stomach.

As Enzo blinked the sleep away from his eyes, he looked around frowning, trying to figure out where he was. When he realized, he stopped breathing. Wha... what the... what in the hell was he doing in Dean and Roman's bed?

Was he still asleep? Was he still dreaming? He didn't have time to answer himself right then, because Jojo had begun her ramblings.

"When did you come back?" she beamed at a still blinking Dean, "Why didn't you wake me to say hi? How was your daddy? Did he say hi to me again? Did he swallow down all the jelly babies again," she giggled when she remembered Dean telling her how her dad loved sweeties. Jojo gasped again, "Dean guess what guess what! I'm going to school just now and we're practicing times tables and I can count up in fives now, you wanna hear?" she didn't wait for an answer as she started, "One, five..." she stopped as she frowned, "Wait that's not right. It's 0! Okay, zero, five, ten, fifteen... yeah that's all I got."

She sat cross legged on Dean's stomach as she grinned down at him.

Dean blinked, "Wow, kid," he croaked, "You got all the way up to fifteen. We'll teach you all the way to a hundred if you want."

Jojo nodded, "Yeah, but only after school. First I have to go or else I'll be absent and miss recess, and that's my favouritest class!" She got up, not realising that her knees were digging into Dean's ribs. He tried not to make a face as Jojjo bent over and kissed his cheek. He cralwed over to his side and kissed Roman, who was still laying on his back, and then jumped over again giving a big kiss on a still overly pale and very confused Enzo.

"Okay, mama, let's go get ready!"

"You go on baby, go pick out your clothes okay?"

Jojo nodded and skipped back to her room, picking up her pineapple as she went. Once she was gone, Gina turned her head slowly, looking into the room, a very straight smile on her lips.

"Good morning," she said simply.

The three on the bed just blinked at her. Roman was very obviously trying to avoid he gaze, although he found it very hard when her eyes were all but boring into him.

Dean kept trying to sit up, but would groan heavily every time he got too far, and he'd lie back down. He too was making it a point not to look at anyone else in the room.

Enzo... well, Gina had never seen Enzo look so pale. His eyes were as wide as she'd ever seen them, and he sat ramrod straight on the bed.

"How..." Enzo started, looking around him, "How did I get in here?"

There was a beat of silence, before Dean opened his mouth to answer, but instead, of speaking his hand flew up to his mouth and he groaned, leaping straight out of bed and running towards the door, all but mowing Gina over. By the sound of it, he made it to the bathroom just in time, and heaved.

Everyone in the room cringed as they heard him vomit. It sounded painful.

"Hangover," explained Roman, "He got home pretty wasted,"

"Uh huh," nodded Gina, "That I get, but it doesn't quite answer Enzo's question."

Roman went back to avoiding her eyes, knowing what she was thinking, and knowing that he had to assure her that he had not brought Enzo into their bed for his own personal reasons.

Well, not really, anyway.

He turned to Enzo, who was looking at him quite confused, and very pale for some reason.

"You were having a nightmare," he told him, "And we... we thought it might help if you weren't sleeping alone."

Gina's eyebrow shot up, "Oh yeah?"

"Yep," Roman nodded, "And it worked," he grinned tightly at Enzo, "You stopped dreaming."

Enzo blinked, "Uh... yeah. Yeah I did. Uh... thanks."

The silence that followed was short, that in no way made it any less awkward. Gina standing at the doorway looking like a judgemental shadow wasn't really helping much, and Roman really wished she'd stop looking at him like that.

It was then that Dean reappeared at the door, slumped over and looking like shit.

"I'm never having wine again," he whimpered, as he crawled back into the bed, pushing Enzo over, and closer to Roman, while Dean lay half hanging off the edge.

"Yeah, you look like crap," nodded Gina, "How many did you even have."

"Just three," he muttered into the pillow.

"Well that's not so bad," she shrugged.

"Bottles," he finished.

Gina's eyebrows shot up, and she laughed, "Why in the hell would you have three bottle of wine? You know what that shit does to you!"

"Yeah well the flight attendants liked me. And they kept offering me wine every five minutes, so I couldn't really say no."

Why not?" asked Enzo, finally having found his voice. Dean looked at him like he was crazy.

"It was free!" he exclaimed.

"Ah," nodded Enzo, "Makes sense."

Roman frowned, "So you had flight attendants all over you, huh?"

The underlined malice in his voice caused Dean to roll his eyes, "Really Roman? Now you're jealous of flight attendants?"

"I ain't jealous," he muttered.

Oh but he was. Gina observed. He always was. Well, almost always. She almost found it funny that Roman was jealous of a few flight attendants that had done nothing but smile a little too much at Dean, yet here Enzo was, in their fucking bed, all but pressed up to Dean, and Roman didn't look jealous of that at all.

That was...that was weird, right? But Gina just let out a small sigh, realizing that weird had come and gone a long time ago.

There was a shuffle next to her, and Gina looked down to see Jojo back.

"I heard vomit," she said, "Who was vomiting?" she looked into the room and saw who was laying face down on a pillow.

"Dean?" she went closer to the bed, "Are you sick?"

"Yeah I am, Jojo," he groaned softly.

She patted his back with her tiny hands, "Sorry you're sick Dean," she said quietly, "Do you want some medicine? Medicine always makes you better. And also some sugar afterwards to help it go down. Like Mary Poppins said."

Dean couldn't help his chuckle, "Yeah, I'll get some medicine later on, Jojo."

"But you need it now!" she insisted, "You gotta get better _now_." she thought hard, and then gasped, "Oh I know what makes people feel better! Kisses!"

"Kisses?" Dean frowned at her.

Jojo nodded giddily, "Like in the stories." she looked over at the bed and grinned, "Enzo quick! Kiss Dean!"

If Enzo wasn't frozen before, he sure as hell was now.

"I... wha... huh?" he spluttered.

"It worked yesterday," nodded Jojo, "Maybe Dean will get better if you kiss him like you kissed Daddy!"

For the first time since he returned to bed, Dean lifted his head, "Huh... wha... I'm sorry, what?"

At the doorway, Gina wanted nothing more than to sit down with a bowl of popcorn and watch how this played out, but the looks on the faces of those in the bed made her sympathize, and she sighed, walking into the room.

"We were playing Snow White," she explained, "And in the end, the Prince always has to kiss the princess." she looked at Dean pointedly, "On the cheek." she said clearly, "And so that's what Enzo did."

"Uh huh," Jojo nodded, "So maybe a kiss will make you better like it made Snow White."

Dean just blinked at little Jojo, not quite believing what he was hearing. Enzo... had kissed Roman.

Enzo had kissed Roman.

He'd... his kissed him. On the cheek yeah, but a kiss was a kiss.

Dean felt a sudden roar of jealousy in his belly, which was to be expected when one's boyfriend received a kiss from someone else, but that... that wasn't quite the jealousy that Dean was feeling.

No, he wasn't jealous of Enzo. Hell he wasn't even jealous of Roman.

He was jealous of Gina and Jojo, and the fact that they had gotten to see the kiss and he hadn't!

The realization was a confusing one, that was true, but it was also very sure. The thought of Enzo kissing Roman excited him, the same way the thought of him being in bed with them earlier that morning excited him.

Dean did not know what to do with this information. His head was already pounding enough without _this_ coming along too.

He lay his head back down slowly, and next to him, Jojo still stroked his hair, "Come on Enzo, you're the closest. Kiss him quickly so he gets better."

Dean's eyes stayed shut as he waited, wondering if Enzo would actually do it. _Waiting_ for Enzo to do it.

Next to him, Enzo stared at little Jojo with wide eyes and ever paling skin, wondering why the little girl enjoyed torturing him so.

And Roman. Roman was trying hard not to stare, but his eyes were fixed on the space between Enzo and Dean. Waiting for it to close. Waiting for Enzo to do it.

All of them. Patienty waiting.

Except Gina... Gina was wondering. And she knew only one way to see if her wondering was worth it.

With his eyes still closed, Dean then felt lips smack quickly against his cheek, but without even looking, he knew that they weren't Enzo's. His eyes snapped open, and he saw Gina smiling next to his face.

"There," she smiled, "All done, now you're better."

Dean stared daggers at her. Did... did this bitch really just deprive him of a kiss from Enzo?

Enzo blinked up at her. Did... did this bitch just steal his kiss?

Roman was glaring with fire in his eyes. Did this bitch just deprive him of seeing that kiss?

Gina saw all their looks. And behind their eyes, she saw what she had been looking for.

She tried her hardest not to laugh, because oh boy this was unbelievable.

It looked like Roman's fucked up feelings weren't so fucked up after all. Well actually, they were still very fucked up, but at least he wasn't fucked up by himself.

What a huge fucking mess this was turning out to be, and Gina had no sympathy.

"Okay, Jojo, time to get ready for school," Gina trilled, holding out her hands to Jojo, who was grinning, satisfied that Dean would get better now that he'd gotten his kiss.

"I still can't choose a outfit," she sighed as she left the room.

"I can help!" Enzo piped in quickly, "I'm good at outfits."

As he leapt out of the bed, Gina raised her eyebrow at his green checked pajama pants and wondered if she should be worried, but she shrugged it off and let Jojo drag Enzo to her room while she herself got ready for work.

"I don't know if I should wear the bunny shirt or the dinasour shirt." Jojo explained.

"Bunny," Enzo told her, "always go with the bunny."

Back in the bedroom, Dean was still face down on his pillow. Roman shuffled closer to him.

"Did that kiss help you at all?" he asked, brushing hair away from his face, "Or should I give you another one?"

Dean chuckled weakly, "Don't kiss me, I might throw up on you."

Roman smiled, "That's what you get for drinking three bottles of wine during a two hour flight."

"Not my smartest moment," Dean agreed with a sigh. He blinked his eyes open and saw Roman's face right next to his.

"You're real pretty," he whispered.

Roman laughed, "Yeah, you mentioned that."

Dean chuckled back, but had to stop because of his headache. He cleared his throat, "Did... did Enzo's dream really stop? When he... you know... slept here? I don't really remember, I passed out pretty quick."

Roman nodded, "Yeah. He stopped dreaming almost immediately."

"Good." smiled Dean.

Roman nodded, "Yeah, it is."

Despite his warnings, Roman chanced a peck on Dean's lips, "Now, you should get another couple hours of sleep. We're hitting the gym hard today. And also for the rest of the week."

Dean let out a groan, but was silenced, "SummerSlam is coming up baby, we gotta get prepped. And we gotta get Enzo prepped. It ain't gonna be easy."

Dean sighed, "Yeah, I know. But first I need sleep. And Advil."

Roman chuckled at his bitter tone, "Coming right up."

:::

Enzo could not have gotten out of that bed any faster. He jumped at the chance to escape, and he so took it.

He'd felt like he couldn't breath in there.

He still couldn't believe it. He had been sitting between Dean and Roman in their bed. He had slept in Dean and Roman's bed. While they were in it.

Both of them.

He still couldn't quite wrap his head around the fact, especially since _they_ had been the ones to put him in there.

They had put Enzo in their bed.

Sure, it was because they were helping him out of a dream he couldn't even remember anymore, but he was gonna try and gloss over that fact for a while, and focus on the part that he had been in bed with Roman and Dean!

But still, he had felt like he could't breathe in there, because this... this is what he wanted. He wanted to be like this with them. He wanted to sleep in bed with them and wake up with them with Jojo rousing them up with sharp elbows and knees and kisses.

And the thought was making it hard to breath.

And the worst part... the worst part was the fact that Enzo had been so damn comfortable in there. Sitting there in between Dean and Roman as if he was a part of them... it had felt so comfortable... so perfect. It felt so much like that's where he belonged.

Except... except he didn't. He didn't belong in there with him He wasn't supposed to be cuddling up next to Roman or kissing away Dean's hangover or enjoying the warmth of a bed that was big enough for three.

No matter how much he wished he did, or no matter how much it felt like he did, Enzo didn't belong there.

And that thought... well, it made it hard to breathe.


	25. Broken Backs

Roman hadn't been joking about hitting the gym every day for the rest of the week. Every day was spent at the Crossfit gym a few miles from their house, and Roman was like a drill sergeant.

"Two weeks to SummerSlam," he said every time there was a complaint, "You want a repeat of Great Balls of Fire? I didn't think so. So get back on those weights and don't stop until I say so."

"We don't even have matches though," Dean whined.

Roman didn't seem to care, and continued to work them to the bone. Dean was quite used to it, but Enzo was unpleasantly surprised.

What Roman didn't understand was that his idea of a regular workout was Enzo's idea of hell. He liked working out as much as the next wrestler, but not when it meant nearly killing himself.

"Why do you hate me?" he all but sobbed every time Roman added more weights to his set.

"You'll thank me next Sunday," is all Roman ever said. And as much as he hated it, Enzo had to admit that by the end of the week, he felt just a little stronger than he had at the beginning. He'd never admit that to Roman though.

Enzo eventually managed to get Roman back on his slave driving when it was their turn to be his weights. Dean yelled abuse as Roman heaved him up and down on the bench. He was even worse when it was Enzo up there and he was spotting.

"Come on Reigns, is that the best you can do?"

"I bet Jojo could lift Enzo faster than that."

"What, you losing your Mojo Ro?"

"Come on, you think Braun Strowman would stop at 80?"

The goading seemed to push Roman further, but after every set hed glare at Dean icily.

"You're a fucking jerk, you know that?"

Dean would grin and kiss his sweaty arm, "I thought you'd be used to it by now, baby."

Every day after the gym, the three would get home just as Jojo did, and their evenings were filled with helping with homework and singing songs and playing games.

She had very recently graduated from Disney to Pixar, which meant the adults in the house had a lot of new songs to learn. All except Enzo, who somehow already knew all the songs.

"I still don't get it," Gina shook her head, as she watched them.

Dean just shrugged, smiling, "Does anything about Enzo surprise you anymore?"

Gina looked at him from the corner of her eye. She then looked at Roman on the other side of her. They had the same look on their faces when they looked at Enzo. It was just too bad they weren't looking at each other to notice it.

She rolled her eyes as she turned around and got off the couch. Would she have to deal with all these goo goo eyes all week?

The answer, as she found it, was yes. Yes she would. She wished she could just scream at the two of them, telling them that they were both feeling the same way and should just fucking talk to each other instead of the obvious guilt that was plaguing their minds.

But still, she had enough self control to know that they had to hear the news from each other, and not from her, and as much as it pained her, Gina kept her mouth shut about it.

Well, she meant to, but then one day, Gina was working at home and Roman and Enzo were at the gym, and Jojo was at school, and Dean had faked a stomach ache to get out of working out, so instead, he was bugging Gina in her office.

He sat on the other side spinning around the chair seeing how dizzy he could get.

"If you dare throw up on my desk, I will hurt you Ambrose."

Dean sat upright and shook the dizziness out of his head, "I'm bored," he whined. "I spent all day learning Jojo's new songs and now I'm bored." He set his chin on her table and pouted, "So why'd you stay home then?"

She shrugged, "Stomach ache."

He scoffed, "Really? You stole my excuse?"

Gina shrugged, "You stole my husband."

Dean opened his mouth to retort, and then closed it.

"Alright you win."

Gina laughed, knowing that that got him every time. She tried to go back to work, but Dean was still spinning in her chair singing softly. He sighed as he sat up straight again. There was silence for a while and Gina looked up to see Dean with his chin on the table again, just staring at her.

"What?" she blinked.

Dean shrugged slightly, "Nothing."

She raised her eyebrow, Nothing?"

He nodded. Gina sighed and went back to her paperwork, knowing that he'd speak up eventually. She only had to wait another minute.

"Gina?"

"Uh huh," she answered, not quite paying attention.

"I.." Dean cleared his throat, "Can... can I ask you something?"

"Uh huh," she said again.

"Well it's kinda important."

"I'm listening Dean," she said, turning the page."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Okay then," he cleared his throat again, "Well I was wondering... did... did you ever hate me?"

Gina's pen finally stopped over the paper and she looked up with a frown, "What?"

"You know, since it's my fault you and Roman broke up."

That's when Gina put her pen down, "Um, excuse me?"

Dean shrank back in his chair, but didn't say anything else.

Gina blinked at him, "Dean. I was joking. About the stealing my husband thing. That was a joke, I thought you knew that."

"I know it was," he sighed deeply, "Just... I've been thinking and... I never really thought about it before but, I did kinda end your marriage and you probably hate me for it so..."

Gina almost laughed, "Dean! Do you really think you ended my marriage?"

"Well," he shrugged, "Yeah."

Gina tried not to smile as Dean looked at her guiltily, "Dean, Roman and I were over long before you came into the picture."

"But you didn't get divorced until I came along."

"Yeah, because it was easier for us to not to. Until he fell for you, that is-"

"But you said-"

"Roman and I just happened to be friends who were too lazy to get a divorce. But then he fell for you, and he didn't want to pursue you while he was married to me. So I guess in that way, yeah, you're the reason we got divorced. But our relationship had been over long before that."

Dean nodded as he listened to her, and a look of relief passed over his face.

Gina smiled, "Don't you think you would've known if I hated you?"

Dean shrugged, "Well maybe you're as good at hiding your feelings as I am,"

Gina almost laughed, "You think you're good at hiding your feelings?"

Dean shrugged, "I am."

Gina just shook her head, "If you say so."

"I do say so," he crossed his arms, looking all determined. Gina just rolled her eyes.

"Well anyway, just know that I've never hated you for falling in love with Roman. And I never hated Roman for falling in love with you, alright?"

Dean nodded, her words obviously helping whatever was going on in his head. He was getting up to leave when Gina spoke again.

"And I don't hate you for falling for Enzo either."

Dean felt everything inside him freeze. His eyes snapped to Gina in shock, "Wh- what did... wha... what?"

Gina smirked, "You're really not that great at hiding your feelings, Ambrose."

His eyes stayed unblinking as he stared at her as she just went back to her paperwork as if she hadn't just dropped a huge bomb on his head.

Gina started feeling sorry for him after he hadn't moved in a few minutes.

She looked up at him again, "You wanna talk about it?"

Dean didn't look like he could if he wanted to. Gina almost felt sorry for him.

"Alright, we'll talk when you're ready."

But it didn't seem like he would be ready anytime soon. Gina got through three more pages before putting her pen down again and looking up at the still frozen Dean.

"Okay, obviously you're still processing, so I'll make it a bit easier. No, you're not giving anything away, I'm just very observant. Also, I know you;re probably wondering, and no, Roman does not know. And neither does Enzo."

Dean blinked, and then finally spoke, "You... you haven't told them?"

Gina shook her head,

"Are... are you going to?"

She shook her head again, "No. But you are."

Dean shook his head immediately, "Uh, no. No I can't do that. I won't do that. No. Nope."

Gina raised her eyebrow, "Well then what are you gonna do?"

Dean shook his head again, "Just... I'm just gonna hope the the... feelings... go away."

"Dean, I've seen you look at him. Trust me, they're not gonna go away."

Dean slumped in his chair, still looking horrified at Gina, "Wait," he frowned, "Why are you so okay with this? _I'm_ not even okay with it. I'm not supposed to be having feelings for Enzo while I'm with Roman. That... that's not supposed to happen."

Gina shrugged, "Having feelings for two people at the same time isn't a crime, Dean."

"Yeah but it's not normal." he said, leaning forward, "Feeling like this is not normal, Gina. I shouldn't be feeling like this, it's wrong."

"It's... complicated," countered Gina, "But understandable, I guess."

Dean tilted his head at her, "Wait, I don't get it. Roman's one of your best friends, you should be hating me right now. Hell _I_ kinda hate me right now so... so why aren't you hating me?"

Gina just looked at him for a long time, not knowing how to answer without giving away all the other secrets she was keeping.

She'd already said too much anyway.

It was then that they heard the front door open, and noise came pouring into the house.

"I'm hoooome!" came the loud voice of Jojo as she slammed the door behind her, "And guess what! No homework!" she was heard running up the stairs, and the adults smiled as she burst through the door of the study.

"No homework?" Dean grinned as Jojo leapt onto his lap, "Are you just making that up so you don't have to do any?"

"No silly," Jojo giggled, "We were extra good today so Miss Hattie didn't give us any."

"So does that mean we get to watch all the Pixar movies you want?" nodded Dean, "Cause I've been practicing and I know all the songs now."

Jojo crossed her arms with a sigh, "No, Dean, today is Mary Poppins day, didn't you know?"

Dean blinked, "What?"

"Yeah Dean," grinned Gina, "It's Mary Poppins day."

He narrowed his eyes at her, "You watched me learn all the songs to all the Toy Story's, and you knew it was Mary Poppins day?"

Gina smiled smugly, "Listening to you practice was fun. I didn't want to ruin it."

Dean took a deep breath, "You're a mean person."

"Does that mean you can't watch with me?" Jojo asked, "Do you have to go learn all the Mary Poppins songs now?"

Dean scoffed, "Are you kidding, I already know all the Mary Poppins songs. I bet I know them better than you."

Jojo gasped, clearly feeling insulted, "No way! I'm the best at Mary Poppins!"

"Oh yeah?" Dean grinned as he jiggled her on his lap, "Well which song is your favourite."

"Chim Chim Cheree!" she said, as if it was the obvious answer, "Chim Chim Cheree is the best one."

"No way," Dan shook his head, "The best one is Supercalafragalisticexpialidocious."

Jojo shook her head, "I don't like that one."

Dean's eyes widened and he gave an exaggerated gasp, "What did you just say?"

Jojo just shrugged, "I don't like that song. It's sucky."

"Jojo, no saying sucky," said Gina, not looking up from her work.

"But Mama, it's sucky!"

"Jojo," she warned.

Jojo just shrugged, "It's sucky," she whispered.

Clearly feeling insulted, Dean glared at the little girl, "My song is not sucky!"

"It is so sucky!"

"You're sucky!" Dean snapped.

Jojo gasped, "You take that back!"

Dean refused, "The only reason you don't like it is cause you don't know how to say it."

Jojo's gasp was beyond offended. She jumped off Dean's lap and stomped her foot, "I can so say it!"

Dean smirked, leaning back, "then say it."

Jojo blinked a few time, and then shrugged, "I don't wanna."

"Ha!" He pumped a fist, "You can't say Supercalafragalisticexpialidocious!"

"I can say it I can!" Jojo stomped her foot, "I just don't wanna because it's sucky!"

"Alright, enough with the sucky!" Gina finally intervened, causing the other two to shrink back a bit, "Now Dean, are you seriously going to have this argument with a six year old?"

Dean blinked, "Well... well she started it."

"He started it," Jojo pointed, "He said I can't say it."

"Well then say it."

"I don't wanna!"

"Hey!" Gina glared, "Dean, you're in time out."

He gaped, "Wha-"

"You heard me."

He scoffed, "In case you didn't know, I am not your child."

Gina raised an eyebrow. Dean just looked back at her. The staring only lasted a few seconds before her glare made Dean give in.

"Fine," he whined as he got up.

Jojo grinned as he left the room.

Once he was gone, Gina leaned in,, " _Can_ you say it?"

Jojo shook her head, "It's really hard okay." she whispered.

:::

Enzo and Roman came home a few minutes later. Roman breezed through the door while Enzo kinda limped.

"What did you do to him this time?" sighed Gina as the man collapsed face down onto the couch.

"Nothing," Roman shrugged, "We just trained."

"Liar!" Enzo yelled, "You're a liar! Gina he's a liar! A mean, hateful, unreasonable liar! That wasn't training that was torture and I'm never speaking to you again."

Roman just sighed softly and went over to the couch, patting Enzo's back, "It's for your own good, you know. This training will help."

"For my own good," he muttered into the pillow, "That's probably what the police say to someone when they're about to put them in the electric chair."

Gina raised an eyebrow, "Enzo, are you seriously comparing training with Roman to the electric chair?"

Enzo scoffed, "Are you kidding? The electric chair is better. At least those guys get to die afterwards."

Gina snapped her head to Roman, "Roman, you're making Enzo want to die?"

He just shrugged, patting his back again as he stood up to go to the kitchen, "Like I said, it's for your own good."

Gina sighed, "Enzo, why don't you go take a shower. Eaze up your muscles before dinner."

He nodded and got up slowly. He looked at her with narrowed eyes, "That is a cruel man," he whispered.

Gina smiled a bit, "Yeah I know, but you love him."

"Well yeah," he sighed as he walked away. It seemed he was too tired to realise what he had just agreed to. But Gina was gonna count it as a confession nonetheless.

That was officially three for three. And there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

She got up and went over to the kitchen, where Roman was rummaging through the fridge, "Where's Dean?" he asked once Gina came in, "In your room. I put him in a time out."

Roman chuckled, "You gotta stop putting him in time outs."

Gina shrugged, "He was arguing with Jojo about Mary Poppins, he deserved a time out."

He laughed again, "Jojo's already back?'

"Yeah, the Carsons dropped her off. She's in her room trying to learn how to say Supercalifragalisticexpialidocious."

Roman sighed, "It's really hard, okay."

Gina rolled her eyes, "Now could you stop sweating all over the fridge? Take a damn shower, I just sent Enzo up."

Roman grabbed an apple and closed the fridge doors. Gina tilted her head, "Now what's this about you torturing him?"

"I'm not torturing him," he sighed, "He needs to be ready."

"Roman, the man hates you right now."

He shrugged, "He needs to be ready, Gina."

She frowned at him. "You're being incredibly unapologetic about this. Considering he looks like he's in so much pain right now."

Roman shook his head, "It's for the best, Gina. He needs to be-"

"He needs to be ready I know. But you don't think you're gonna burn him out with all of this? Come on Ro, cut him some slack."

"There's no time for slack, Gina," he said coldly, "He needs to be-"

"Ready, Yeah, you said that. Several times."

Roman looked at her hard look and sighed, sitting down, "I know you think I'm being harsh, but-"

"You think?"

"Gina, you don't understand, okay? In a bit more than a week, Enzo is going to be in the ring with Cass, all by himself. Cass, who thrives off hurting Enzo as much as possible. And I'm gonna have a front row seat, and I won't be able to do a thing about it. Do you get that?" He shook his head, clenching and unclenching his fist, "I'm gonna be hanging above the ring, completely helpless while I gotta watch as Enzo faces off that son of a bitch. During that match, there is gonna be nothing I can do, but right now? I can help him prepare. I can help him be ready, because what's gonna happen next Sunday is gonna be a whole lot worse than a couple extra sets at the gym."

Gina looked at him for a long time after that.

"You're not used to being helpless huh."

Roman shook his head,n the distress all over his face, "It's fucking killing me. And the fact that this is all my fault anyway..."

Gina sat down, "How is it your fault?"

Roman looked down, "It's me Cass is trying to get at. He's only having this match to get back at me for breaking his face."

"And you broke his face because..."

He blinked, not looking at her, "I... I should take that shower."

Gina frowned after him as he left the kitchen with his apple.

Yet another secret. She shook her head.

These boys would be the death of her.

:::

It was on Sunday morning when Jojo opened the door of Dean and Roman's room very early in the morning. She knew she wasn't supposed to wake them up so early, but she didn't really do what she was told anyway, so she crept into the room very sneakily and climbed into the bed. She frowned a bit when she saw that her daddy's arm was wrapped tightlly around Dean's.

She loved it that her daddy's liked to sleep close to each other, but right now _she_ was the one who was supposed to be in the middle, so she lifted heavy arms as gently as she could to make space for herself. There was some groaning complaints as she pushed and pulled, but neither of them woke up. It took a long time, but Jojo finally managed to make a little space big enough for her to squeeze herself into. She lay down, exhausted. Who knew arms could be so heavy?

Jojo settled in, hugging her arms around one of her Daddy's and closing her eyes. She didn't fall asleep again though. No, her sleepiness was long gone, so she just stayed there, switching arms every now and then.

She wanted to hold on for as long as possible because she knew that today was their last day at home and they would be gone by the time she came back from school tomorrow.

After a long while, it still didn't seem like either of them was about to wake up. Jojo hoped that staring at her Daddy's face long enough would get him to wake up, but that didn't seem to work. So she opted to poke his face a little. She kept poking and poking, hoping he'd get up, and she thought it wouldn't work, and then without even opening his eyes, Daddy smiled, "Morning Jojo."

Jojo gasped, "How did you even know it was me?"

Roman blinked his eyes open, "I always know it's you baby girl." he smiled. He kissed her on her forehead as she giggled, "Now, how long have you been in here?"

Jojo shrugged, "Hours and hours and hours. Why do you sleep so much?"

"It's only about 7 in the morning baby girl," he chuckled,

"Yeah but look, the sun is out and everything,"

Roman chuckled, "You're absolutely right there."

Jojo nodded, "I'm right all the time. Now when is Dean gonna wake up?"

Roman shrugged, "He'll wake up right now if you hit him a little."

Jojo sat up with a grin, "I can hit him?"

"Go ahead," nodded Roman, "He won't even be mad."

With a giggle, Jojo sat up and raised her hand in the air, bringing it down in a loud slap on Dean's face.

Dean shot up in bed in a fright, almost yelping out a curse until he saw who was in their bed.

"Daddy told me to!" Jojo said immediately, pointing at Roman.

Roman couldn't help but chuckle, "I didn't know she'd hit that hard."

Dean blinked the sleep out of his eyes as he rubbed his reddening cheek, "Ow," he whined.

Jojo shrugged apologetically, "You were sleeping too much. And it's your last day so you can't sleep anymore, okay?"

Dean nodded, rubbing his eyes but laying back down, "No sleeping. Got it."

Jojo smiled, her arms hooked through each of theirs.

"So what are we gonna do today instead of sleeping?" asked Roman.

"Nothing," giggled Jojo, "We're gonna stay in bed and eat pizza and play a game."

"Oh yeah? What game?"

"It's called 'Day Time Bed Time'," she grinned, "It's when we all stay in bed and eat pizza."

"I like the sound of that game," chuckled Dean.

Jojo nodded, "I know you do. I made it up all by myself." she suddenly gasped, "But we got to get Enzo and Momma, they're gonna play too!

With that, she shot up out of the bed and ran out of the room. She was back only a minute later dragging a dazed and half asleep Enzo with her.

"Quick Quick, get in the bed with Daddy and Dean!" Jojo yelled at him, before shooting out of the room again.

Enzo blinked, "I... I... what?"

"It's for the game," explained Roman, trying and failing to look apologetic. The look on Dean's face wasn't any different.

"Yeah, you should probably listen to her."

Enzo blinked again. "Am... am I still dreaming? he muttered.

Before an answer could come, Jojo showed up again, this time dragging her mother along.

"Is someone gonna tell me what 'Day Time Bed Time' is?" she asked wearily.

"It's a game where we all get into bed and do nothing," explained Roman, "Right Jojo?

"Right," she nodded, leaping back into the bed between Dean and Roman.

Gina let out a little hum, "Okay then." she saw Enzo still standing frozen by the door and she smirked, "Come on Enzo," she took his hand, pulling him to the bed, "Its game time."

Not surprisingly, Gina all but shoved Enzo into the bed before her, right next to Dean. It was a big bed, but still, four adults and a six year old was still a bit of a tight squeeze, which meant sitting next to Dean meant that Enzo was almost on top of him.

He sincerely hoped his red face could be brushed off as the fact that he had just woken up.

Which was totally believable, because Dean was looking pretty red too. Dean of course, was gonna try and blame that on the fact that he had been slapped awake. And he most certainly was not about to think about the fact that Enzo was right there in bed with him.

Again.

On the other side of Jojo, Roman was trying not to show his huge smile. This week was ending how it had started. He was in bed with both Dean and Enzo and this time he didn't have to feel guilty because it was Jojo who'd made it happen.

And anything Jojo made happen couldn't possibly be wrong.

So he smiled.

It only took a few minutes for the initial awkwardness to go away, and 'Day Time Bed Time' was fast becoming Jojo's favourite game.

She loved her family to bits, and she loved them even more when they were all together like this. It didn't happen a lot, but she'd make sure that it would happen again.

And she'd make extra sure that Enzo never ever ever left, becasue he was the best at all her games.

"Ooh hey! I forgot to show you something!" Jojo quickly perked up, "We had a project at school and I got the best mark!"

That sure shut everyone up a up a bit. Jojo getting the best mark at something wasn't something that happened a lot. At all. So their surprise was called for.

"You got the highest mark?" Gina said, trying not to sound so shocked. It didn't work, but Jojo didn't notice.

She nodded, "Uh huh. Look I'll show you."

She scrambled out of the bed and ran to her room.

"She's never got the highest mark at anything before," Roman whispered.

"Our baby's growing up," Dean pretended to wipe a way a tear.

When Jojo showed up again, she was carrying a rolled up piece of cardboard paper that was almost as big as she was.

I made it at school," sh e grinned, "It's a family tree, see?"

She spread the cardboard paper over the floor, and the adults leaned over her edge of the bed to see. It wasn't as much a tree as it was a whole lot of faces with names under them in some questionable spelling.

Jojo smiled at her creation and pointed, "See, that's Grandma Patti and Grandpa Sika. And that's Grandma May and Grandpa Kevin. But I didn't do Grandpa in colour becasue he got dead, remember."

"Yeah, baby, we remember," Gina nodded.

"And that's Grandma Julie and Grandpa Jony," she pointed, "But Gradma Julie is in black and white becasue she got Dead, and Grandpa Jony has lines over his face because he went to jail."

Dean pulled his lips into his mouth, trying not to laugh and the makeshift bars over his dad's face, "That's real smart, kid."

"I know it," she grinned, and carried on pointing, "and that, she grinned, is Grandma Trudy!"

Enzo blinked at that, "What?"

"Yeah, I saw her picture in your wallet when I was looking for money," she smiled, "She's your mama, right?"

Enzo was still quite taken aback, "Uh, yeah, she is. You... you put her on your family tree?"

"Of course I did, silly!" she chuckled. Enzo still stared at the little girl as she carried on.

Jojo's fingers moved down the paper, "and then that's Uncle Jimmy and Uncle Jey and Uncle Rocky and Aunty Nia and Aunty Tamina and Aunty Naomi." she went to the other side of the paper, "And that's Aunty Tina. Because Mama doesn't have any other brothers or sisters. And Dean doesn't' have any. And then that there is Leah, because Enzo only has one sister."

Enzo gaped again, "You... you put my sister on your family tree?"

"Of course I did, silly," she sighed at him, "I saw her picture on your phone when you were sleeping. You should probably not make your password so easy." she carried on pointing, not seeing the look on Enzo's face.

"And then that's Momma, and that's Daddy, and that's Dean, and that's Enzo, and in the middle, that's Jojo! Jojo is me." she grinned, "And that's my family tree!" she threw her hands up, "I had the biggest one on the whole class. Which means I have the biggest family! Which means I have more people who love me, which means I win, right!"

The adults looked at the grinning little girl with unadulterated adoration. Roman held out his arms and Jojo leapt into them, "That is absolutely right, baby girl, you win."

She grinned at him, "Now, is it time for Pizza yet?"

"It's always time for pizza," Dean grinned, "Now whoever finds the menu first gets to pick the toppings."

Three bodies leapt out of the bed and ran towards the kitchen.

Still at the edge of the bed, was Enzo, staring at his face on Jojo's family tree. It was right there next to the picture of her parents. Right there. Like it belonged there.

He felt a presence next to him as he stared.

"Hey," Gina said quietlly, "You okay?"

Enzo looked at her, the tiniest smile on his face, "She put me on the family tree." he said softly.

Gina smiled at him, "That's what happens when you're family, Amore." she threw an arm over his shoulder, "Now come on, we can't let Dean be in charge of pizza toppings. He'll ruin it with bananas."

She got off the bed, and left the room, leaving Enzo to keep looking at the tree. He finally let out a smile, getting up off the bed, and following his family to the kitchen.


	26. Broken Teams

Corey was tired. Really really tired, considering he had done nothing but lay in bed and do nothing all week. He didn't know why he was so damn bored. it was getting so bad that he was finding himself looking forward to Monday, so that he could get to work and be around actual people.

It was a strange feeling, this wanting to be around people.

Of course, by people, he actually meant Enzo, because he was the only 'people' Corey cared to be around. But he could never admit that out loud. Hell, he could hardly admit in in his mind. he'd been trying all week to not admit it, but just because he was in denial didn't mean he was stupid.

The meal Enzo had left him was still siting in his fridge uneaten. He'd tried to eat it, a few times. Putting in the microwave and then getting a fork and then staring at it for a few hours and then putting it back in the fridge. It didn't help that the meal smelled absolutely delicious, but Corey just couldn't bring himself to eat it.

He didn't know what was wrong with him. Was it possible that Enzo was right?

Were they actually... friends?

The idea was a foreign one to Corey. 'Friends' wasn't a thing he was used to. And friends with Amore? Of all people? That couldn't be right.

He didn't really feel like he wanted to be Enzo's friend though.

Friends with benefits? Or fuck buddies, as Carmella had so eloquently put. But no, that didn't feel quite right either.

It was puzzling for sure. He didn't want to be Enzo's friend, he was almost sure of that. But he also didn't want them to not be friends.

Yeah, puzzling was the word.

Corey shook his head, not wanting to think about this anymore. Not wanting to think about Enzo and the fact that this house was way too quiet without him.

Corey got up and made his way to the kitchen, deciding to fucking eat the food in his fridge before it went off. He set it in the microwave, grabbed a fork as he waited for it to warm up, and then sat at the kitchen counter.

And then he just stared at it.

Another ten minutes passed, and Corey finally groaned, throwing the fork down and throwing the food back into the fridge.

Fucking Amore.

::

"Last RAW before SummerSlam," Enzo rubbed his hands together in the locker room, "Are ya'll excited? I'm excited."

Roman blinked with narrowed eyes, "Ecstatic."

"Oh yeah, can't wait." shrugged Dean.

Enzo sighed at them, "Come on guys, perk up a little. I'ts Summerslam!"

"Yeah, we're aware." said Roman, "It's gonna be so much fun watching it happen from a shark cage."

"Well you won't be up there the whole night," shrugged Enzo. The other two just glared at him and he decided to stop talking about SummerSlam. Turns out, he didn't have to. The door to the locker room burst open, and showed the grinning faces of Jimmy and Jey Uso.

"What up Uces?"

Roman frowned, "What? What the hell are you two doing here?"

"Yeah guys, wrong show," said Dean.

Jey laughed as he sat next to Enzo, "Yeah well it's the last RAW till SummerSlam."

"Yeah," nodded Jimmy, "We wanted a front row seat to all the shit that's about to go down."

"How are you so sure shit's about to go down?" asked Enzo.

The Usos laughed, "Aw he's adorable, ain't he?" Jimmy pinched his cheek, "You act like this is your first Pay Per View. Shit always goes down, Amore. It's WWE."

"The show ain't even started yet and I already saw Graves on the punching bag like he's trying to rip it off the hook." snorted Jey, "as if commentating is all that stressful."

"Wait what?" Enzo looked up, "Why the hell would he be in a mood."

Jey shrugged, "Don't know. Don't care either."

"Okay," Enzo nodded, "Me neither."

He sat for a few more seconds, and then got up, "I gotta go do a thing."

He left the room quickly, missing the looks of murder on Dean and Roman's faces.

Jimmy and Jey, however, did not. They glanced at each other, and then at Dean and Roman.

"Uh... are we missing something?" blinked Jimmy.

"No." said Dean through clenched teeth, wrapping up his fists, "You're not missing anything. Why would you think you're missing something?"

"Well," shrugged Jey, "Ya'll just look like you're gonna burn something with your eyes. That's all."

Roman shook his head, "Nothing. It's nothing. We're just in a bad mood."

"Why?" Jey threw his hands up, "It's almost SummerSlam, you should be excited!"

"Yeah well, you have a championship match," said Dean, "What do we got?"

"That's true," shrugged Jimmy, "But come on. Lighten up, the night is still young."

"Oh I love that song," Jey grinned.

"I know right? Nicki's the best."

"Are you serious!" Dean snapped, "We're on the sidelines for SummerSlam and you wanna talk about Nicki Minaj?"

Roman lay a hand on his shoulder, "Well, it is a pretty great song, Dean."

Dean glared at him, "Are you kidding me?"

"Come on Ambrose, lighten up," Jey slapped his shoulder, "Look on the bright side?"

Dean scoffed, "Bright side?"

"Well yeah. There's always a bright side. I mean... well... Jimmy help me out"

"Hey! At least Enzo has a match!"

The glares he received after that almost made him shrink back.

"In what world is that a good thing, Jimmy?"

"Well... I... it's... Jey, help me out here."

"Oh I cant." Jey shrugged, "Enzo's basically committing suicide in there while Roman spews his guts 20 feet above the ring and Dean gets to watch. I... I don't see a bright side."

The glares they received after that made the twins clear their throats.

"Well, we'll just go." nodded Jimmy.

"Later ya'll," Jey waved, and the two backed out of the room quickly, leaving Dean and Roman to sulk some more alone.

"Wish he wouldn't say 'committing suicide' like that," muttered Roman as he threw a towel onto the bench.

"Yeah," sighed Dean, "So... are we still not gonna talk about... you know... the actual suicide."

Roman sighed deeply, "Well we can't say something until he says something."

Dean nodded, "But... do you think he's ever gonna actually say anything?"

Roman shook his head, "I honestly have no idea."

"He probably told Corey." he said the name as if it was poison, "Bet he tells Corey everything."

Roman slammed his locker shut, and glared at Dean, "You're not helping this bad mood, Dean."

Dean shrugged, "Since when am I helpful?"

Roman chuckled dryly, "good point."

:::

Across the arena, Enzo finally got to the gym, and sure enough, there was Corey.

"Whoa, you look pissed," he said immediately.

Corey turned from the punching bag when he saw that he wasn't alone anymore.

"Amore," he said, breathing heavily and holding the bag to keep it from swinging.

"Graves," nodded Enzo, making his way towards him, "You're all shirtless and sweaty and angry."

Corey shrugged, "Yeah well, it's been a bad week"

When Enzo got closer, he held the bag steady and motioned for Corey to carry on. And carry on he did.

For some reason, having Enzo's face loser to the bag kinda drove Corey on a lot.

"Why was your week bad?" asked Enzo.

Corey stopped punching again, flexing his wrists, "It just was."

He really didn't know how to explain that he had been thinking about Enzo the whole week, and the fact that he had been with Dean and Roman instead of him kinda made him mad for some reason.

Corey shook his head and kept punching, "Yours any better?"

"Oh yeah it was great," Enzo's grin was huge, and Corey's punches got stronger, "Went to Roman's place in Pensacola. I think that's my favourite place now. Well, besides Mama's. Damn it's weird having family everywhere, huh."

Well I wouldn't know. Corey snarled in his mind. Outside, he scoffed, "You're calling them family?"

"Well they are."

"They're not your family Enzo."

"Yeah, except they are. Jojo said so."

Corey stopped punching and narrowed his eyes at Enzo, "Jojo said so?"

Enzo nodded, still grinning, "Jojo. Roman's daughter. She put me in her family tree, ain't that great?"

Corey blinked, "Yeah, that's great," he said flatly.

Enzo chuckled, and went over to sit on the bench, "Come on, lighten up Corey. It's almost SummerSlam."

Corey just rolled his eyes, and went back to punching, "You of all people, he huffed, "Should not be excited about SummerSlam."

"Well, I have a better outlook on life, Corey. The big picture, you know? I mean, I got good good health. Good friends. A hot piece of ass, and a family."

"Piece of ass, huh?" Corey said through gritted teeth.

"Yeah. You're my hot as hell piece of ass. Unless you're ready to be my friend too. Last I checked, you're still in denial."

"I'm not your damn friend," Corey snarled.

"Yeah, except you are." shrugged Enzo.

"You have enough friends. And I don't need any. So no, I'm not."

Enzo sighed again, "Yo, stop pissing on my good mood, please. Why is everyone in a mood today? First Dean and Roman and now you? Ya'll gotta stop. Hey, maybe I should do the cooking thing again! yeah, you could all use a pick me up for sure. Especially those two, they've been pissed since we left Florida. And Roman's pissed 'cause he had to leave his car and take a plane, which, you know, ain't something he likes to do. And neither of them have matches for SummerSlam, so that doesn't help either I guess. Oh and-"

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

Enzo was kinda taken aback by the sudden change in tone. Corey was no longer punching, just staring at him with a frown.

"Uh... what?"

"All you ever fucking talk about is Dean and Roman."

Enzo blinked, "Yeah well, you know why."

"Yeah, I do know. And I still don't get it.

"Corey-"

"You know that they don't love you Enzo. You know that they won't. You know that you'll spend all your time watching the people you love, love each other and not you, and you can actually get away from it but you won't! You won't do it, so just tell me, what exactly is wrong with you?"

Enzo blinked up at him from his seat on the bench. He finally looked down, watching his foot tap up and down. He didn't answer.

Corey sighed heavily, and the next thing Enzo knew, Corey was sitting right next to him.

"I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be a dick," he said quietly, "I just... I don't get it."

Enzo swallowed hard as he nodded. He finally looked up at Corey and sighed. "Yeah, me neither."

They sat in silence for a while, Enzo no longer in such a good mood, and Corey feeling kinda bad about getting him out of it.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready? You got a math tonight."

"Not until later. Dean has a match though. Against Cesaro. Kinda like pay back for last week."

"I assume they're gonna gang up on him again." said Corey, "That's always fun to watch."

Enzo sighed, "Dude, I get you don't like them, but you could at least not be a dick about them in front of me, alright?"

Corey kissed his teeth, "Fine."

"I mean, I wouldn't be a dick to whoever you love."

"I don't love anyone," Corey said firmly.

"Yet," shrugged Enzo. "It's only a matter of time. And when it does happen, I'll be here to here you on."

Corey scoffed, "I doubt that."

Enzo chuckled, and then threw arm around him, "Let me tell you a little something about love, Graves."

"You gotta be kidding me," he sighed.

Enzo ignored him, "It feels like crap most of the time,"

Corey looked at him with a frown, "I assume there's a 'but' coming."

"Nope." Enzo shook his head, "That's it. It sucks."

Corey let out a snort, "That's inspiring,"

Enzo grinned, "You know it."

:::

Dean's match wasn't going well.

He hadn't really been expecting it to, considering he was fighting Cesaro, but it was kinda sucking. He never used to let himself be distracted by whoever else was at ringside, but this time, most of his focus was on Sheamus, even though he hadn't even interfered yet.

Key word being 'yet'

When Cesaro clocked him in the face while he was too busy watching Sheamus, Dean wondered if maybe he should have let Roman come to ringside with him. Maybe then he'd be able to fucking focus.

It got worse when Cesaro started swinging him. Dean groaned at the dizzyness, but every time he went around, there was Sheamus, looking all smug.

Dean was really trying to shake it off, but it really wasn't working. What the hell was wrong with him today?

The match went back and forth, Dean being mostly on the receiving end of the abuse.

Dean finally decide that this was all Sheamus's fault, so once he had Cesaro down, he slid out of the ring and got in a good clothes-line.

There, now with him down, he'd be able to actually pay attention to his actual opponent.

Sheamus, obviously, was not happy with that, and once he recovered, he rolled into the ring.

"I probably should have thought that through," Dean sighed at himself when they both came for him.

Dean heard the bell ring, and he won by disqualification, but something like a bell ringing was obviously not going to stop these two. Dean tried to fight out of it, even getting a couple of hits in himself, but the numbers always won, and there was two of them and one of him and...

Okay, not anymore. Dean looked up to see what had pulled Sheamus off him, and he saw none other than Seth Rollins.

"Are you kidding me!" he snarled, but he didn't have much time to be mad at the moment. With Sheamus occupied, Dean could get to Cesaro, and without the distraction anymore, he had his fun.

And damn, it was fun.

For a moment, just a moment, Dean kinda forgot that it was Seth in there with him. Seth who he absolutely hated. For a moment it was just them two working together, kicking ass and doing it well. He didn't even realise how much time had gone by, until Sheamus and Cesaro were outside the ring, ad he and Seth were in it.

"Suicide dive!" he heard next to him. And Dean didn't think twice. He and Seth ran to other side of the ring, bounced off the ropes and made for Sheamus and Cesaro, pouncing onto them as if they were one person.

The only thing that could rival Dean's roars was the crowds cheers. Rolling back into the ring, Dean bounced off the ropes, the Adrenalin pumping through him. Once he turned around, he stopped when he noticed him in the middle of the ring, and all of a sudden, Dean remembered who he was in there with.

His breaths started to slow as he stared at Seth, and Seth stared at him. and then, just like last week, Seth held out his fist. And the crowd went wild

And Dean just stared at it.

For a really long time.

When he looked up at Seth, it was with a snarl, but before he could even say anything, music blasted through the Arena, and Kurt Angle came down the ramp.

Seth put down his fist, but didn't look away from Dean, with that stupid, fake hurt look on his face.

Dean's snarl did not subside. He wasn't even listening as Kurt spoke, too busy snarling at that Rollins.

But as it turned out, he probably should have been listening, because deafening cheers came form the crowd, and he finally looked towards the ramp..

"That's right!" Kurt continued, "The Bar verses Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins at SummerSlam for the RAW Tag Team Championships. Oh its True!"

"IT'S DAMN TRUE!"

Dean's eyes widened as Kurt went back up the ramp, "What? What did he just say? _What_?"

"Hey, listen," Seth said, grabbing his arm. Dean yanked it away with a snarl, and then rolled out of the ring, murder on his mind.

He thundered up the ramp and through the Gorilla, where he didn't even notice Enzo, who was getting ready for his match. Enzo watched wide eyed as Dean stormed after Kurt, with Seth Rollins right behind him.

"What the hell is wrong with you Kurt?!" Dean thundered as soon as he caught up to Kurt backstage. Kurt sighed as he came to a stop. He had been expecting this. He turned around to face a fuming Dean Ambrose. He saw Seth walking much slower behind him.

"Are you kidding me with this?" he seethed as he snarled in Kurt's faec. "I've been wanting a match at SummerSlam and this is what you give me?!"

"I gave you a championship match," Kurt smiled, "Do you not want a championship match?"

"Of course I want a damn championship match!" Dean cried, "But him?" he jerked a thumb behind him, where Seth stood glaring with his arms crossed.

"Dean," said Kurt calmly, "I'm not forcing you to do anything. This is absolutely your choice. SummerSlam is next week, and the Raw Tag Team Championships are on the line. The team of Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose are the number one contenders. Unless of course, you don't want the shot."

Dean stared at Kurt with murder in his eyes. He had never been so torn in his life.

Kurt just smiled, "I do however, understand your reservations about teaming up with Seth again, so that's why I'm not forcing you. But if you do change your mind, let me know before the end of the night. I won't set up the match unless I have confirmation from you. Now, that seems fair, doesn't it?"

Dean just seethed. Kurt nodded, "Alright then." he nodded, "Gentleman." and walked away. Leaving the two by themselves. Oh, and with Candy the camera girl.

Dean didn't move for another minute. Behind him, Seth sighed

"You're not really considering letting this opportunity go, Ambrose. You can't."

"Watch me." said Dean, starting to walk away. But he was stopped when Seth grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn around.

"Alright, I have had it with you!" he finally snapped, "Why are you being such a jerk?"

Dean gaped at him, "I'm being a jerk?!"

"Yeah, Dean, you are. What more do I have to do?"

"There's nothing you can do to change what-"

"I'm not asking to change it! I'm not asking you to forget it, I'm asking you to get past it! I'm not the same guy I was 3 years ago Dean. I did some shit I'm not proud of and I'm trying to forget it but-"

"Oh you're trying to forget it?" Dean scoffed, "Well I hope that works out fine for you, Rollins. I hope you do great with all your healing."

Dean tried to walk away again, but Seth stopped him.

"What do you want me to do?" he said, not letting go of Dean's arm this time, "Dean what the hell do you want me to do to show that-"

"I want you to go back and not stab us in the back, how's that? Can you do that?"

"Oh for god's sakes, that was over three years ago!" Seth snapped, "How long are you gonna hold that against me? I was stupid and ambitious and I would have done anything and everything to get to the top, and that included hurting you and Roman and I'm sorry! I'm sorry, alright?" the yell caused Dean to draw back a bit.

Did he really just hear that.

A silence followed, as Seth realized what had come out. He sighed.

"I'm sorry," he said, a lot quieter. The silence between them grew, as Dean stared at Seth, and Seth looked down. Which is why he didn't see the change in Dean's face. Dean took a lunging step forward, his face all up in Seth's.

"How dare you," he hissed, "What the hell makes you think I would believe that? What, you think playing hero for a few nights is gonna make us friends again? You think saying you're sorry once is going to make me even consider teaming up with you?"

"Hey! I saved you. Over and over again."

"I don't need you to!" Dean snapped, "I don't need you Rollins, and I never will. You know who my real friends are, and you ain't it. After all the crap you did you think throwing a few punches and faking an apology is gonna do it?"

"I don't apologize for shit Dean, you now that. I'm not lying when I say-"

"Oh of course, and you're a huge expert on not lying," Dean scoffed, "there's nothing you can do to make this any different Rollins. I won't let you use me to get a Title. Not again."

With that, Dean stormed down the hallway, away from a silent Rollins behind him. Candy the camera girl lowered her camera and sighed.

"That was heated." she whispered.

The glare Seth gave her made her clear her throat and finally walk away.

Seth took a deep breath as he watched her go in the same direction as Dean. He was still glaring. Because he was mad. He was mad at Dean. Mad as hell because... because he was telling the truth.

A simple, 'I'm sorry' wasn't enough to get Dean to work with him, never mind to be back in his and Roman's life. He has to show that he meant it, otherwise he'd never believe it. And really, no one could blame him there.

But it was obvious that Dean was done listening to Seth. And thinking about it, the only way person Dean would even talk to when he was mad like this was Roman.

Yeah, Roman Reigns was the only person who would get through to Dean right now. But Roman would take Dean's side in a split second, which sucked because Roman was the only way Dean could even consider listening to Seth. He was the onl-

Wait... Actually, no.

Roman was not the only person.

With new found inspiration, Seth turned arond, and hightailed it to the Gorilla.

He found Enzo stretching in the hallways.

"Amore," he said stopping in front of him, "I need your help."

Enzo's eyebrows shot up when he saw Seth come up to him, "You... you what?"

Seth sighed, "Look, I've been a dick to you. A lot."

Enzo nodded, "Yeah, I know."

"And you probably won't believe me, not many people are believing me today, but.. you know I was only acting like that because-"

"Because I'm with Dean and Roman and you're not."

Seth blinked

"I.. uh... yeah. Yeah, that's why."

Enzo shrugged as he carried on stretching, "And now you want me to talk to them to get you back in their good graces."

This time Seth didn't say anything, "You know I kinda had a speech planned and you're ruining it."

Enzo shrugged again, "I ruin things, it's what I do." he sighed as he finally stood up straight to look at Rollins, "Are you doing this because you just want a championship again?"

Seth sighed, "No. Look, the idea of being Tag Team champs with Dean is amazing. But... the amazing part isn't the championship part, it's the part where I'm with Dean." he sighed heavily again, "Look, I screwed up. I screwed up big time, and they aren't gonna forgive that easily, but I just want a chance, and you're their closest friend and... and if you put in a good word for me, they'll listen to you."

Enzo stared Seth down as he thought. Now, he didn't pretend to know the first thing about Rollins, but Enzo was pretty sure he knew a person hurting when he saw one. And Rollins was hurting. And he just wanted his friends back.

And if a championship came with that, all the better.

Enzo sighed, "You must be really desperate if you're asking for my help."

Seth shrugged, "I don't know you that well. But I don't actually... dislike you. Except for the part where you replaced me."

Enzo just snorted at that, and then sighed, "look, I got a match now. I can't-"

"Come on Enzo please," Seth all but whined, "I'm... I'm basically begging you here. Do you know how much it hurts me to beg? I never beg. And I never apologize. And I'm doing that a lot today, so you must know this is serious."

"Yeah, I saw that on the screen. It was intense."

"Come on man, please."

Just looking at him, Enzo knew that this was serious.

"Amore you're up!" Enzo waved at the voice behind him, and sighed at Seth.

"Look, I can't help you."

Seth all but deflated, "But-"

"Not that I don't want to, but I can't. Look, the only way to get to Dean is through Roman, and the only way to get to Roman is through Dean. You know how close those two are."

Seth shook his head, "Yeah but, you're just as close to them."

"No not really."

Seth rolled his eyes, "Oh come on, you're all joined at the hip!"

"Amore!" yelled Bianca the backstage girl as Enzo's music started.

Enzo started walking back and shaking his head, "I'm telling ya, the only way to get to one is through the other. They don't really care about anyone else's opinion."

Seth rolled his eyes, "Come on, you gotta know they care about you as much as they care about each other. I mean, have you seen you three?"

Enzo just scoffed, "I'm telling ya Rollins, you gotta talk to them."

That's all he could get out before a mic was shoved in his hand and he was pushed out through the curtain.

Seth just sighed. He turned around, and stopped dead when he saw who was behind him. He blinked.

This was Enzo's opponent? Well... well that was not good. The Club's music started and Seth watched them go through the gorilla and down the ramp. On the screen, Seth saw Enzo in the ring, looking completely unphased, which wasn't smart considering he was going to be fighting Karl Anderson. A man who was part of a team that was known notoriously for cheating. That wouldn't have been a problem before, but Enzo wasn't in a team anymore. A fact that Seth was sure the Club would take great advantage of.

As the Club approached the ring, Enzo motioned them in faster. Literally asking for the fight. And Seth knew for a fact that he wasn't the only person waiting for this to go badly.

As Gallows and Anderson approached the ring, they both used the ropes to have them up onto the apron, facing Enzo.

"Well well well Karl," Gallows spoke into his mic, "What do have over here?"

"Well Luke," answered Anderson, "It's looks like we got big mouth Amore, all by his lonesome."

The two grinned at each other as they stepped over the second ropes into the ring. Enzo backed up as they did, his mic still in hand, "Now hold up Mr and Mrs. Potato head," he stopped them, "If you're gonna try and steal my catch phrases at least do it right, you hear me?"

Luke and Karl didn't seem happy about their new nicknames, and Seth wondered why the hell Enzo insisted on provoking these guys when they very clearly had the advantage.

"Now I know what you're thinking boys," continued Enzo, "Now that there ain't nothing standing in your way, you want a piece of this, yeah?" he nodded at the angry looking team, "I mean, I know, I've said some choice things about yous two in the past, right? I mean, I've called you ugly. Many, many times. I mean, I can't even count how many times I've called yous two ugly. I mean, it's a lot. I always like to make it a point for everyone to notice how ugly you are."

Seth gaped at the screen. Was this guy fucking suicidal.

"And that makes you mad," Enzo said quickly when it looked like they were gonna pounce, "You got every right to be mad, I get it. And now, you wanna teach me a lesson, right? Right, I get it," he shrugged, "But you see boys, the thing is, I'm Enzo Amore. And I always got backup."

At that, the crowd popped, and Enzo grinned at the little frowns on Gallows and Anderson's faces.

"And since I know that once I get in this ring with one of you, the other one is gonna get involved and all that, I mean, this is WWE and yous two are world class cheaters, I mean, I get that. I respect that. So why don't we skip all of that and get right down to business, and straight up make this a tag team match?"

The crowds cheers were deafening as Enzo grinned at the now quite confused looks on Gallows and Anderson's faces. And quite frankly, they weren't the only ones confused. Enzo had a partner? Seth looked around at the gorilla. He was the only one here. Surely Enzo's secret partner should be here.

Inside the ring, the silence had gone on a bit too long, and Enzo sighed. He looked at the ramp as he spoke, "You see, right about now is when somebody runs down that ramp all heroic and looking for a fight."

Seth blinked at the screen for a few seconds before he got it.

"Oh he means me!" he gasped.

"Duh!" cried Bianca.

It's then that the drum roll of a song sounded around the arena, and the screams of the crowd were deafening.

Enzo grinned as he finally dropped his mic and strode to the corner of the ring. Seth met him there moments later, and Enzo regarded him with a smug grin, "You're welcome."

Seth nodded, "You think it'll work?"

"If we win it might," he shrugged, "Just don't steal my thunder, alright? This is still my match."

:::

When Enzo called for a partner, Dean immediately started running.

He had been storming around in a cloud of fury, thinking about that damn Seth Rollins and how he had the fucking nerve to think he could just apologize and that would be it.

And now Dean was going to be missing out on a Tag Team Championship because of fucking Rollins, and now he was going to be looking like a fucking idiot refusing to fight with him because of a grudge.

This was a whole lot more than a fucking grudge and Kurt knew it.

This is all Dean could think about as he stormed through the arena, but then he passed a screen and heard Enzo call for a Tag Team partner, so he fucking turned tail and ran.

He didn't remember Enzo telling him that he'd be needing a partner, but then again he had had a lot on his mind, and Enzo couldn't have been meaning anyone else. Roman had a match later, so the only person Dean would want to team up with was Dean, and he was late so he ran like the fucking wind.

"You see, right about now is when somebody runs down that ramp all heroic and looking for a fight." he heard Enzo say.

Dean ran faster, and he was just by the gorilla, about to scream for someone to play his music, and that's when he heard the drum roll. His run screeched to a stop just before Dean could get to the ramp.

He blinked and walked slowly backwards as he stared at the screen in he gorilla and saw Seth fucking Rollins come out as... as Enzo Amore's tag team partner. Dean looked around to see if everyone else was seeing this.

The looks on their faces showed that they were just as confused as he was.

He stared some more as Seth joined Enzo in the ring, and... and Enzo was fucking smiling. At Seth.

"What the fuck?" Dean was surprised that the words weren't coming from him, but rather from behind him. He turned around to see Roman staring at the screen, looking just as confused as he was.

"What... what's going on?" Dean asked Roman.

Roman shook his head, "I... I was about to ask you that."

They both stared up at the screen, both breathing heavily from running here.

"What is he up to?" Dean glared, "What is Seth... what is he up to? Why would he help Enzo? Why would he... why is he..." he shook his head, "I'm going out there."

He made to walk away, but Roman held onto his arm, "Wait," he said slowly.

Dean gaped at him, "What do you mean, wait?" he hissed, "This ain't a coincidence, Ro. Seth Rollins doesn't just help people. He doesn't even like Enzo."

"Yeah but... you basically told him to to prove he's sorry. And now he's helping Enzo..." he shrugged, "Maybe just... maybe he's proving he's sorry. So just... just wait."

Dean glared, "Roman... don't tell me you're actually trusting Seth to be out there with Enzo."

"I'm not saying I trust him," shrugged Roman, "But I trust Enzo. So let's... let's just wait."

And so they did. They waited in the gorilla as they watched the match, just waiting for something to go wrong, just waiting for Seth to do something while Enzo had his back turned.

But everytime Enzo's back was turned, Seth would just... watch it. He'd watch Enzo's back as if he was actually, actually helping him. For real.

Helping the one person he must have known could change Dean and Roman's mind about him.

Dean didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to think. He looked up at Roman, and he didn't seem to have any answers himself.

He looked at the screen again, and Seth was in the ring with Karl Anderson. Enzo was on the apron jumping up and down and wanting in on the match, his arm extended out to Seth, who seemed kinda preoccupied as he tried to get out of a hold.

When he finally slipped out, he bounced against the ropes and managed to get Karl down with a clothesline. He went down as Karl did, clearly exhausted, while Luke and Enzo begged to be in the match.

Karl got to Luke before Seth got to Enzo, but instead of going for Rollins, Luke ran straight for Enzo, making to knock him off the apron. But as his leg went up for Enzo's face, a different one came into view instead, and Seth went down instead.

Dean blinked. A few times, before he looked at Roman to see that the look on his face matched his.

"Did... did you see that?"

Roman blinked at Dean, "The part where Seth just took a kick to the head? Yeah. Yeah, I saw that."

The two went back to staring st the screen, "Why would he do that?"

There was a huge sigh and Dean and Roman turned to see Bianca the backstage girl stare at them exasperated, "Because he'd trying to prove that he's changed!" she snapped, "What are you, slow?"

Neither man answered her. They just kept staring up at the screen, where Seth was still on the floor holding his head, and Enzo was in the ring with Karl Anderson.

The match went on, back and forth and back and forth. The match was finally tipping in favour of Seth and Enzo. The match was just about over, and Seth had Luke Gallows in position for a pedigree.

"And Rollins with the pedigree!" Booker T yelled, This match is just about over!"

Gallows was flat on the floor, not looking like he was about to get up any time soon. All Seth had to do was make the pin and he'd be done. He made to move towards Gallows, and then paused. For a few moments.

And then he got up, ran to his corner and tagged in Enzo. Even Enzo was a bit surprised at that.

"Wha... what..." blinked Dean.

"I... I don't know." blinked Roman.

"Oh my god," Bianca shook her head, "You really are just dumb jocks, aren't you."

Their heads snapped to her and she sighed, "He gave away the win. To Enzo. That's what happened, he gave away his win."

Their heads snapped back up to the screen, where Enzo was on the top rope, and then he launched himself down onto the already down Gallows.

He went for the pin, and the match was won.

Back in the ring, Enzo looked to the corner, where Seth stood breathing heavily.

"Well?" he shrugged, "You think that will work?"

Enzo tilted his head at him, and then laughed, "I think it just might.

Back in the Gorilla, the two weren't surprised to see Dean and Roman standing there, waiting. They were all quite aware that they had quite an audience, with the entire backstage crew staring at them. A long silence followed, until Enzo nudged Seth so hard he almost fell forward.

He cleared his throat, "I... I'm sorry." he said softly, looking up from Dean to Roman. He didn't know what else to say, so he just sighed again, "I'm sorry."

The silence that followed was long. And awkward. And it didn't look like it was about to end, until Roman nudged Dean so hard that he almost fell forward.

Dean cleared his throat, "I uh... I was on my way to Kurt's office. I don't know if... if you wanna come."

Seth's eyes widened and he opened and closed his mouth several times. When nothing came out, he opted for vicourous nodding.

Dean nodded once and then turned around. Seth followed after him, leaving behind a smiling Roman, and a grinning Enzo.

"I can't believe that actually worked," He said, as he and Roman followed slowly after them.

Roman smiled, looking at him, "Are you okay? That was a pretty tough match."

"Are you kidding? I'm great." Enzo grinned

Roman still hadn't stopped smiling at him. It was a wonder he hadnt bumped into a wall.

"You have no idea what you just did, do you?"

Enzo blinked up at him, "What do you mean?"

Roman stopped walking, causing Enzo to stop with him. He raised his eyebrows at the look on Roman's face.

"What?"

Roman's smile grew, and he didn't say anything, just grabbed Enzo by the shoulders and pulled him close.

"I..."

"Enzo," he said into his hair, "you have no idea what you just did, do you?" he said again.

Something told Enzo that Roman wasn't going to tell him either way, he didn't mind much. Becasue Roman had his arms wrapped around him, and he was smiling into his hair.

Enzo closed his eyes against Roman's shoulder, and let his own arms wrap around Roman. As he smiled into his chest, he thought about his conversation with Corey earlier.

Why would he torture himself like this? For people who would never want him?

Becasue of this right here.

Just this. A simple hug in the hallway while Roman smiled into his hair and held him this tightly.

Enzo knew that Roman wouldn't ever actually hug him the way he really wanted him to, but this... this right now... it was gonna have to be enough.


	27. Broken Secrets

"Well ain't this a happy little family?"

Roman, Dean, Seth and Enzo were sitting in the locker room alone when Jimmy and Jey burst in.

Seth frowned, "What are you guys doing here?"

"We came to see all the shit go down," nodded Jey,"And we sure weren't disappointed."

"Yeah but honestly," sighed Jimmy, "I was expecting more of a blow up. not all this happy families crap."

"Yeah, I ain't happy," said Jey, "Are you happy Jimmy?"

"Not at all Jey."

Enzo frowned, Why ain't you happy?"

"'Well ya'll might have forgiven the little traitor, but we sure haven't."

Roman scoffed, "What do you have to forgive?"

"Well we're the ones who had to wipe away all your snotty noses and baby tears when he fucked off, remember?"

Seth was staring hard at the floor as the Usos glared at him, "Look guys, I'm-"

"Yeah, you're sorry, we get it." Jimmy rolled his eyes. But first we'd like a few words with you, Rollins."

"I... with me?"

"Uh huh." Jey smiled, "We'll be quick don't worry."

"Uh, okay." Seth cleared his throat.

Jimmy sighed when no one moved, "Alone. We wanna have a word with him _alone_."

"Yeah. Get out ya'll."

"Jimmy this is really unnece-"

"Leave, Dean."

"Guy's you don't gotta-"

"Get out Roman."

The twins looked like they meant business, so reluctantly, the others stood up, but not before Enzo patted Seth's shoulder lightly, "Good luck." he whispered.

"Don't leave me alone with them," he said in a hushed whisper, but Jimmy was already pushing Enzo out of the room.

Seth couldn't hide the scared look on his face, and with the way the Usos were looking at him, he had every right to be scared.

Once outside, Enzo frowned at the others, "They're not really gonna do anything to him, right."

Eyes turned to Roman, and he sighed, "Well... I... I honestly don't-"

"Ow!" They heard form the inside.

"God, don't be such a baby," came a scoff.

"Yeah that didn't even hurt. _This_ hurts."

"Ow!" it came again, "Stop that!"

"Nope. You'll be getting a lot more of this, Rollins."

"Depending on whether or not you stick around this time."

"Are you gonna stick around this time, Rollins?"

"Cause if you're not, we gon' be doing a lot more than just pinching."

"Come on guys, I - ow! Stop it! I'm sticking around okay? I swear I'm... I'm not like that any more. I promise,, you'll see."

There was a stretch of silence, and the three outside glanced around at each other.

"Should we go back in?" muttered Roman.

Before anyone could answer, there was another yelp inside, and then the door opened, revealing the smirking twins, and Seth rubbing at his arms.

"You pinched him?" Dean frowned at them, "That's it?"

"What do you mean, 'that's it'," Seth hissed, "That really hurt,"

Jimmy scoffed, "You don't know what 'hurt' is. Now Rome, don't you got a match soon?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "I'm gonna get back at Joe for costing me the match last week."

"The match you lost?" smirked Jey.

"I did not lose!"

:::

A while later, Jimmy and Jey had stolen Roman and taken him to the gym to torture him a bit before his match. Dean and Seth had gone off to Kurt's office to to discuss some things. Dean had invited Enzo along, but Enzo thought that this was probably something they should do alone.

Which left Enzo to roam around the arena. Alone.

He hadn't been alone in a really long time. He wondered if it would be like this a lot now that Seth was back in Dean and Roman's life. Would this mean he wasn't exactly needed anymore? Was he still gonna matter?"

Enzo shook his head as he walked, telling himself not to think like that. Dean and Roman had made it clear that he was there to stay. He'd just have to keep reminding himself of that fact.

But still, here he was, roaming the hallways of the arena. Alone.

Until he turned a corner and saw a man in a suit sauntering towards him.

"Shouldn't you be out there instead of here?" Enzo asked Corey once they were close enough to speak.

"Bathroom break," he shrugged, "Shouldn't you be off celebrating the reunion? Or are they gonna do that without you now?"

Enzo sighed, "Okay, I ain't gonna listen to this right now."

As he walked past Corey sighed and stopped him, "Was that a dickish thing to say?"

"Yeah," said Enzo, "A very dickish thing to say."

Corey let out a huff, "Okay fine, I'm sorry." When Enzo tied to walk away, Corey grabbed his arm, "Come on, give me a break, I'm still getting a hang of not being a dick. It's not as easy as you think."

"It really shouldn't be that hard, Graves. Don't be a dick to your friends. Simple."

Corey just sighed again, "Okay, I literally have a five minute break, I'd like to spend it doing something other than arguing with you."

"Yeah, the arguing is getting a little out of hand," nodded Enzo. The next thing he knew, he was against a wall.

Enzo grinned, "Right in the hallway, Graves?"

Corey smirked, "Well I only got five minutes," he said against his lips.

Enzo smiled into the kiss, grabbing the back of Corey's neck as he deepened it. It was hot and ferocious, and the idea that they could be caught at any moment made it even better.

In retrospect, they probably shouldn't have been making out in a hallway.

Roman was making his way from the gym to the gorilla. His match was happening in about ten minutes and he wanted to find Dean and Enzo before it.

He was raising a bottle of water to his lips when he turned a corner and saw them.

Enzo and Corey, basically melted together against the wall, joined at the lips. Roman's face fell slowly, and the bottle hung limply at his side. Enzo and Graves hadn't seem him yet, they were too busy eating each others' faces.

Roman let out a little gasp as he backed away around the corner again. He leaned back against the wall, the water in his hand forgotten.

He swallowed hard as he blinked.

Well, he hadn't been expecting that. Not at all.

He knew that Enzo and Corey were a thing. He had known all week. He'd spent all week trying not to think of it. he spent all week being mad about it.. But knowing it and actually seeing it... those were two different things.

And strangely enough, anger was the last thing on his mind. He had seen Enzo kissing Corey, and he wasn't mad he was just... sad.

Really really sad.

"You're- you're gonna be late," Roman heard a breathy moan. Enzo's breathy moan.

"I don't care." he heard a hiss.

"You got five minutes Corey," he moaned again, and was then cut off by Corey's lips.

Roman didn't want to listen to this. He would rather be anywhere in the world right now, not hiding behind a wall while Enzo...

He swallowed again, closing his eyes.

Damn, this was bad. His heart hurt. It actually hurt. Seeing Enzo with someone else hurt. And he didn't want it to. What was worse was that right now, all he wanted was to complain to Dean. He needed Dean

But how the hell was he supposed to talk to Dean about the fact that seeing their friend making out with someone else made his heart hurt.

How was he supposed to tell Dean that his feelings for Enzo were getting so strong that the thought of him with Graves made him so sad he didn't even want to have this stupid match anymore.

"You think we got some time for a quickie?" he heard a mumble.

Roman finally pushed off the wall, and made to turn around, but then he saw someone running towards him.

"Hey," Dean grinned, "Time for you match come on let's go."

"Uh, Dean-" Roman tried to stop him, but he shot past and turned the corner and-

"What the fuck?!"

The two on the other side of the wall gasped and leapt apart.

"Dean?"

Roman sighed. Might as well stop hiding.

He turned the corner, and there they were. Enzo's hair was all messed up and his lips were red and swollen and half his vest was off

"What the fuck is this?!" Dean snarled.

"Uh-"

"Ambrose," Graves straightened his tie with a smirk, "Reigns."

He smirked at Enzo, "Look like that cats outta the bag huh, Amore?" the lopsided, shit eating smile on his face is what finally got the anger started for Roman.

"Well, I'm late," said Corey. He nodded at Enzo and turned around, walking towards the Gorilla.

As he left, Enzo cleared his throat, "So..." he said, "I think it's about time I tell ya. I'm kinda seeing Corey."

"Yeah," said Roman through gritted teeth, "We know."

"Thought he wasn't your boyfriend," Dean tried not to punch a wall.

Enzo shrugged, "Nah, we're just screwing."

"Okay, I got a match," Roman said, his fists clenched, "And I'm really in the mood to punch something."

"Why?" frowned Enzo.

Roman just grit his teeth, "I'm late," he said again.

:::

When Roman Reigns came out down the ramp, he looked more pissed off than anyone had ever seen him. Only Corey Graves knew why. When he glanced at the announce table, Corey couldn't help but smirk at him. The fact that he was the reason for Reigns's anger was the most satisfying feeling he'd had in a while.

Samoa Joe was already in the ring when Roman got there, but Romans eyes barely even registered him. He was too busy glaring at the announce table.

That Graves. That goddamned Graves. The feeling in Roman's heart wasn't going away. And when he saw Graves smirking at him like that... it got a whole lot worse. It was a good thing he had Samoa Joe right now. he was in a mood to cause some serious damage

But even in the ring, Roman's focus was on Graves. Going on commentating as if he hadn't just punched Roman in the heart.

What he needed was Dean to tell him to calm down a bit. But again, it would be hard to explain why he was so hurt by this. It also didn't help that Dean seemed madder than Roman at this. Yeah he was... wait.

Roman frowned. Why _was_ Dean do upset by this? Roman knew why _he_ was. He had inappropriate feelings going on, but why was Dean-

Before he could finish his thought, the bell rang, and Roman charged.

Usually, matches between Roman Reigns and Samoa Joe were pretty much back and forth, but this time, it was all Reigns. Joe didn't even manage to get a hit in until minutes after.

"Wow, Reigns is going at it tonight!" Michael Cole laughed as Joe all but flew out of the ring.

"Yeah, I wonder why that is," Corey nodded, a tiny smirk on his face.

As the match continued, it made it's way outside the ring. And then up the ramp.

"We should probably move," said Booker. As he said it, Samoa Joe crashed into the announce table, quickly followed by Roman, who got in a Super-man punch on the exhausted man.

The commentators scrambled out of their seats to give the pumped up Reigns some room. The look on his face was manic as he bore down on Joe. And then suddenly his eyes went up, and locked with Corey's.

It all happened in a flash after that.

Joe was struggling against the table, Corey on the other side of it. Roman grabbed Joe by the back on the neck and the waist of his shorts, before heaving him up and tossing him across the table, where he knocked right into the unsuspecting Graves.

"And now Graves is down!" Michael Cole exclaimed, "That wasn't supposed to happen!"

Corey blinked in shock as he tried to figure out what has just happened. He was gasping in air, struggling to breath.

Roman fucking threw Joe. Onto Corey!

Samoa Joe was on top of of him right now because Roman _threw_ him. Onto Corey! He grit his teeth together, still struggling to breath as he tried to push the 300 pounder off him. Eventually he didn't have to, because Roman did, making sure to glare hard at Corey before he was away again.

Corey breathed hard as he got up. Roman had Joe on the table and was working him over hard, and Corey snarled.

He stormed up, forgetting where he was for a moment, and shoved Roman's shoulder.

"What the hell was that?" he yelled.

Roman just shrugged him off and carried on with Joe.

Corey wasn't satisfied, "Hey!"

Roman's head snapped to his and he glared, "Back off."

"Where the hell do you come off attacking me?"

Roman finally turned around and bore down on him, "Oh you wanna see an attack, Graves? I'll be glad to show you."

"Oh, so threats now?" Corey scoffed, softly so only Roman could hear him, "Oh you wanna hit me, Reigns? Be gentle, I gotta keep my strength up for when I'm fucking Enzo later on."

The next thing they knew, Corey was on the floor, and Roman was bearing down on him

He made to advance again, but then there were three referees on him, holding him back. The bell had already rung, and Roman was already disqualified, but he didn't really care much at this point.

He shot Corey another glare, before shrugging off the refs and storming back up the ramp and into the Gorilla.

He wasn't surprised to see a very angry Kurt right there.

And of course, Candy the camera girl was there too.

"Are you kidding me?!" Kurt shouted as soon as Roman appeared, "Are you freaking kidding me Reigns?!'

"Oh come on, I didn't even punch him, I just shoved him a little."

"He's a commentator Reigns, you don't touch the commentators! I shouldn't be needing to explain this to you!"

"Come on Kurt, he didn't even punch him."

Kurt turned around angrily at Dean, "Why is it always you two?" he seethed, "Why can't I get through one goddamned night without you two making my job so goddamn difficult."

The two didn't even try to look sorry, and Enzo tried to blend into the walls so he wouldn't be yelled at either.

Kurt took a really deep breath as he rubbed his head, trying to calm down.

But then there was another interruption, and Samoa Joe came storming through.

"Angle, I want a rematch." he snarled, "I want Reigns again. Now."

"So I can beat you up again? Sure let's go."

"Stop!" Kurt yelled. But before he could carry on, someone else came storming through.

"You can't let this slide," he stormed up to Kurt, "You can't honestly let this slide Angle, I want him punished!"

"He didn't even punch you!" yelled Dean.

"I don't care about whatever this is, I want my damn match!" Joe yelled.

"Enough!" Kurt yelled, shutting everyone up, "That's enough, all of you." he took another deep breath, "Okay, here's what's gonna happen. Next week at SummerSlam, you'll have your rematch."

Joe smirked, "Looking forward to it."

"I'm gonna wipe that smirk of your face again, just wait."

"That's all well and great," snarled Corey, "now are we gonna ignore the fact that he attacked me?"

Kurt rolled his eyes, "No, we're not gonna ignore it. At that match, you'll be the guest referee."

Roman blinked, "What?"

Dean's eyebrows shot up, "Wait what?"

Enzo scoffed, "What? He's not even a ref."

"Oh I can be a ref." Corey snarled at Roman, "And looking forward to it."

With that, he stormed off to his dressing room.

Joe sauntered after him, and Kurt sighed.

"I'm so glad this night is over." he muttered as he walked away.

"Yeah me too," sighed Candy the camera girl.

"How are you everywhere!" Dean yelled.

Candy scurried away, probably to look for someone else's privacy to violate, leaving the three of them and a lot of the backstage crew. Once again.

Roman sighed at the stares, "It was an accident!" he threw his hands up.

"Yeah." nodded Enzo, "Yeah of course. But.. what were you guys saying? When you were all up in each other's faces, what... what were you saying?"

Enzo knew that Corey said he wouldn't say anything to Roman about his feelings, but whatever he said had made Roman mad enough for him to almost hurt him, so Enzo wondered... Corey wouldn't say anything, right?

"Nothin'." Roman shrugged, unconvincingly, "Just talking shit. You know, last RAW before SummerSlam, things get heated, I got carried away. That's all. It was an accident."

Enzo nodded, "Oh, okay then. I'm just gonna go and... do something."

He scurried off, leaving Dean and Enzo to stare after him. It seemed they had forgotten that they weren't alone in the room, and half the backstage crew was watching them with narrowed eyes.

"You know," said Dean after some silence, "I kinda wish you'd punched him."

Roman nodded with gritted teeth, "Yeah, me too."

He took Dean's hand and the two walked away.

Back in the Gorilla, Bianca the backstage girl sighed, "We all know it wasn't an accident, right?"

There were murmurs of agreement around the room as they all got ready to end off the night.

:::

Corey was fuming in his dressing room. That bastard. That absolute dirt bastard, how dare he. First of all, Corey was wearing on of his favorite suits, and that asshole had ruined it. Secondly, he had had his headset painfully ripped out, and now his ear hurt. And thirdly, 300 fucking pounds of Samoa Joe had been flat on his ribcage, so now his chest hurt.

All because of Reigns. That absolute fucking jerk Reigns. He did it on purpose, Corey knew it. And he knew why too.

Pathetic is what this was. Both of them. First Ambrose almost chocked him to death and now Reigns was throwing people at him? Just because he was sleeping with Enzo?

Fucking pathetic!

It was like _they_ wanted to be fucking him, it's the only reason they would act so fucking pathetic.

Corey's pacing slowed, and he blinked.

Wait... no. that couldn't be it. They couldn't be.

Before a full thought could form, Corey's door burst open, and Enzo poked his head in.

"You good?"

Corey scoffed, "Good? really?

Enzo sighed as he came in fully, closing the door behind him, "You know it was an accident. You know how it gets in the moment out there."

"I've been commentating for a long time, Amore, and I have never had a 300 pound Samoan thrown at me."

"Well, he wasn't thrown _at_ you. And it was an accident!"

Corey glared, "Of course, you're gonna believe him."

He didn't even know why that bothered him so much, Enzo taking Roman's side. Of course he was going to take Roman's side. Roman's the one he loved, not Corey.

Of course he'd take his side.

"Hey when... when you two were talking out there, you didn't... you didn't say anything did you? About... you know."

Corey glared, "No Enzo, I didn't tell Roman that you're in love with him and his boyfriend."

"You sure? Cause he's been kinda looking at me weird."

 _That's cause he wants to fuck you!_ Corey yelled in his head. Outside, he sighed impatiently, "I told you I wouldn't say anything didn't I? And I didn't. Even thought he fucking _thre_ _w_ Samoa Joe at me!"

"Come on Graves, it's no big deal, right?"

Corey glared at him, "Why don't you go back and give Roman your sympathy too. Maybe give Ambrose ideas of what to throw at me next week."

Enzo just rolled his eyes as he walked closer to Corey, "You need to chill. Come on, sit down and chill, alright?"

"Chill?" Corey spat, "Chill? I just had a three hundred pound man thrown at me!"

He didn't even realize that Enzo had pushed him down onto a chair.

"How would you like it if a three hundred pound man was thrown at you? And he ruined my suit!"

"I'd be okay, because I'd know it was an accident."

Corey flared, "It was no accident."

Enzo smiled, and it was only then that Corey realised how close he was. Corey was on his chair, and Enzo was leaning close to him, his hands on that chair handles.

"It was an accident Corey. He didn't mean to."

Corey had to swallow before he answered, "Yes he did. He threw him at me."

"Corey," Enzo sighed, his face coming closer, "I thought I told you to chill."

"I am not going to-"

"Corey," Enzo said again, his face so, so close, "If you don't wanna chill I'll have to make you."

Corey blinked a few times before clearing his throat, "But... but he fucking-"

This time, Enzo's lips were touching his, "Corey," he whispered, against his lips, "Do you need me to help you chill?"

Corey had to keep from sighing as he swallowed, "You know he did it on purp-" Corey was cut off as Enzo pressed his lips to his. He did mean to carry on his case about how Roman had done it on fucking purpose, but he kinda forgot all about Roman for a second.

Enzo deepened the kiss, and Corey sighed into it as he grabbed the back of his thighs, pulling Enzo to straddle him on the chair.

Enzo suddenly pulled away from the kiss to look at Corey, who was suddenly finding it hard to keep his eyes open.

"Are you chilled yet?" he smirked.

Corey shook his head, "Not yet," he murmured, pulling Enzo in by the back of his neck. Enzo grinned triumphantly as he rocked his hips forward, pulling a groan from Corey, whose hands went immediately to Enzo's hips, pulling them down harder and earning a surprised grunt from him.

It didn't take long for their clothes to come off. Corey didn't seem to care much about this suit when it was Enzo throwing it to the ground, he noticed. In fact, he didn't seem to care about anything much at the moment.

Enzo was breathing heavily on Corey's neck as their dicks rubbed together, Corey's hand gripped around them both. Corey's own head was thrown back as Enzo pleasured that spot on his neck, his eyes squeezed shut and biting on his bottom lip.

And then Enzo moved away, and Corey was about to whine in disappointment, until he felt the tip of his dick lined up against Enzo's pucker.

His eyes snapped open as he heard Enzo's gasp as he started to sink down on Corey's cock.

"Oh, fuck Amore," he breathed.

Enzo just let out a moan and leaned his head against Corey's shoulder as he sank down on him slowly. It took all of Corey's strength not to jerk up until he was fully seated, but he sat still, letting Enzo take his time, no matter how painfully slow it was.

Corey finally let out a shuddering breath once he was completely encased in Enzo's warmth, "Fuck you're amazing," Corey breathed, brushing sweaty hair out of Enzo's face. Enzo only groaned in reply as he started moving up and down on Corey.

"God yes," he gasped, letting Corey's hands guide his hips, and Corey could only agree, Enzo's lips found Corey's again and they kissed ferociously, breathing curses into each others mouths as their bodies moved. Corey found his arms winding around Enzo's back, pulling him in closer and closer as they moved, until their chests were flush against each other, skin moving against skin.

At that moment, Corey realized that there was nothing else in the world he cared about. Nothing but him and Amore and this moment. But at the back of his mind, he knew that it wasn't him that Enzo was thinking of, and the thought felt a lot worse than having a three hundred pound man thrown at him.

:::

On the other side of the Arena, in an empty locker room, Roman sat unwrapping the tape from his hands, while Dean sat next to him kicking at the locker.

They sat in silence for a bit, until the door burst open, and in came Jimmy and Jey.

"You see? This is why I love RAW before a Pay Per View," sighed Jimmy happily as he sat down.

"All the boiled up tension just exploding into the open like that?" Jey shook his head, "It's Entertainment at it's best."

The two were kinda surprised when they weren't answered immediately. In fact, they were completely ignored.

Jimmy and Jey glanced at each other, and then at Dean and Roman, and then back at each other.

Uh...what the hell was wrong with these guys?

After a few more moments of silence, the Usos had a silent conversation with their eyes, and then they nodded at each other.

"Yo Ambrose" said Jey, "There's this real nice punching bag in the gym over here, and I need you to help me steal it."

Dean got up almost immediately, "Which one?" he asked, as he left the door, letting Jey follow him. When they got to the gym, Jey looked around and then pointed.

"That one with the flames." he said , "It matches my favourite boxers."

Dean just nodded again and made towards it. Jey frowned after him, noticing that he hadn't unclenched his fists since they left the locker room.

What the hell?

When they got to the punching bag, Jey grabbed some gloves and handed them to Ambrose.

"Here, just give it a few wacks, you look like you need it."

Dean didn't say a word, just grabbed the gloves, yanked them on, and then went at it.

Jey couldn't help but let his eyes widen at that. He went behind the bag and held it steady as Dean let loose.

"Alright," said Jey, "Lay it on me."

"Lay what on you?" Dean huffed.

"Well you ain't this pissed for nothing," he said.

Dean said nothing, and just kept punching. Jey sighed a bit, thinking he'd need a better approach.

"So you know we're all going to my place in Brooklyn this week." said Jey, "You think Seth is gonna come?"

"Yeah," Dean said, still breathing heavily, "Yeah he'll be there."

"Alright so that's you and Roman and Seth and Enzo and-"

At that, Dean let out such a powerful punch Jey staggered back.

Enzo? Mhh...

"Enzo's coming right?"

"He'd fucking better," Dean said through gritted teeth, "Unless he's decided to shack up with Graves now."

Jey scoffed "Why would he shack up with Graves,?"

"Well that's usually how it goes right?" Dean huffed, "First you're just screwing, then you're just dating, then you're all in love and living together. That's how it goes."

Jey blinked with a frown, "Wait... Amore's screwing Graves?" he scoffed, "Are you kidding me?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding you Uso!?" he yelled.

"Okay but, why the hell do you care?"

"Because!" he yelled, each word punctuated with a punch, "Enzo shouldn't be screwing anybody if it ain't me and Roman!"

He kept right on punching, all his energy focused on the back in front of him. So focused,, that he didn't even realise that Jey wasn't holding it anymore.

When he finally did notice, Dean realised what he had just said. Out loud.

His punched slowed to a stop, and he blinked, still breathing heavily.

"Oh god." he said.

Jey blinked, "Oh _god_."

"Oh god. I... forget I said that."

Jey just blinked again, "Oh _god_."

"Jey please forget I said that." he pulled off his gloves, "I never said anything. I never said a thing so forget I said anything, alright? I... I didn't mean it. I didn't mean any of it."

Even with his pleading, Dean knew that there was no way Jey would believe him at this point. He closed his eyes and leaned against the punching back as the younger Uso just kept staring at him.

"Oh god." he said again.

:::

Back in the locker room, Jimmy waited for Jey and Dean to be gone before he looked at Roman, looking all forlorn on the bench.

"Okay, I don't get it." he finally said.

"Get what?" Roman asked, unenthusiastically.

"I mean, don't get me wrong, I love the drama of it all, but I still don't get why you would attack Corey Graves of all fucking people."

Roman just shrugged, "It was an accident."

Jimmy scoffed, "Yeah, right, sure"

"It was." he said through gritted teeth.

Jimmy frowned at him again, "You're a nice guy, Roman."

Roman finally looked up at him and blinked, "What?"

"For the most part, you're a nice guy. You know, if you put away the fact that you can be downright scary when you're pissed." Roman opened his mouth to protest, but Jimmy stopped him, "Over all, you'e a nice guy. So I don't really get why you'd go after him like that for no reason."

Roman just looked down and went back to wrapping and unwrapping his hands. When he didn't say anything, Jimmy sighed.

"Alright, if you won't talk to me, I'll get Dean."

"Don't." Roman said quickly, looking up, "Don't get Dean."

Jimmy blinked with a frown. _Don't get Dean?_ Okay, this was getting worrying.

"Okay then." he said slowly, "I'll find Enzo and-"

Roman scoffed, "Don't bother He's probably with Corey somewhere helping him lick his wounds."

Jimmy frowned, "Why would Enzo be with Corey?"

Roman shrugged, teeth clenched, "Probably 'cause he's his boyfriend."

Jimmy was taken aback, "His what? Corey and Enzo are together?"

Roman sighed, "Well technically they're 'just screwing', but it's never just screwing." he shook his head with a scoff, "Enzo's not the type of guy you can just screw and forget about."

Roman went back to fiddling his hands, and Jimmy just stared at him with wide eyes.

"Let me... let me get this straight," he said quietly, "Enzo's with Graves."

"Uh huh."

"And you attacked Graves because of that? I mean, why do you care who Enzo screws."

"I don't!" Roman snapped, "I mean I do! I mean-" he let out a growl, "I just don't think Corey's right for him. He needs someone who cares about him. He needs someone who's gonna look out for him and be there for him and will think of him as more than a fuck!"

Jimmy thought for a second, and then let out a little sigh, "You mean, someone who'll protect him?"

"Yeah."

"And someone who'll let him into his home?"

"Yeah."

"And someone who'll attack anyone he thinks will hurt him?"

"Yeah."

"So... someone like you and Dean."

"Exactly." Roman nodded.

It took him a few moments to realize what he'd just agreed to. His head snapped up to see Jimmy looking at him with wide eyes.

"Oh. My. God." said Jimmy.

Roman's eyes widened and almost choked, "I... I didn't mean that. I didn't-"

But he didn't even have to say it again to know that Jimmy wasn't buying it. So Roman just sighed.

"You can't tell anyone. Jimmy please, you can't say a fucking word."

Jimmy just kept staring, "Oh. My. God."

:::

Considering all the time they had spent growing up together, Roman really should have known that when Jimmy said 'I won't tell anyone', Jey didn't count. And vice versa. So he shouldn't have been surprised that the first thing Jimmy did after their conversation was find Jey.

He was already in the car when Jimmy leapt in.

"Dude you won't believe this!"

"Man, you're gonna freak!"

They blinked at each other as they spoke together.

"Okay, you first," said Jey, "Mine is way worse, trust me."

Jey scoffed, "You wanna bet?"

Jimmy narrowed his eyes at him, "Why? What did Dean say? Is it about why they were in such a mood today?"

Jey nodded, "He almost knocked the punching bag off the damn hook. And... and Roman? Is it about why he attacked Corey?"

"Jimmy nodded, "He fucking hates the guy."

"So does Dean."

Jimmy nodded slowly, choosing his words carefully, "But it turns out that _Enzo_ doesn't hate Corey. At all."

Jey's eyebrows snapped up, "Okay so you know about that?"

"Yeah! Enzo and Graves? Who the hell woulda thought that would happen?"

"Yeah but they're just screwing." said Jey.

"Yeah well 'just screwing' is making Dean kill punching bags and making Roman attack commentators so..."

Jey shook his head, "Okay time out. You telling me that Roman's..."

Jimmy nodded slowly his eyes widening," You saying that Dean is..."

Jey nodded with wide eyes, and the twins stared at each other.

"Uce," started Jimmy, "are you telling me that our idiot cousin and his idiot boyfriend are _both_ catching feelings for their idiot friend?"

They stared at each other for a while longer, and before anything else could be said, the door burst open and Roman slid into the back.

"Hey. Dean and Enzo are in Seth's car. We'll meet them at the airport."

Roman didn't receive an answer, and he looked up to see the twins turned in their seats and staring at him.

"Uh, the flights in an hour and a half. We should probably get going. You know, the quicker we get there the faster it's over."

Still no answer. Jimmy and Jey just looked at him. And then at each other. And then back at Roman.

"What?" he said slowly, "Why are you..." suddenly he gasped, his head snapping to Jimmy, "You told him? Oh my god, you _told_ him!? Jimmy, what the hell?"

"Dude." Jey blinked at him, "You can't be serious."

Roman groaned, his head going to his hands, "Oh my god. Look, you guys can't say anything, okay? You can't tell anyone. Especially not Dean. And definitely not Enzo. I know how fucked up it is, okay? And it'll go away. The feelings are gonna go away so I need ya'll to shut up about it, okay? Just shut up until I figure out how to make them go away."

He stared at the twins with desperation in his eyes.

"Rome, get out."

Roman blinked, "Wh-what?"

"Just get out for a bit," said Jey again, "Give us a second.

After some grunting protests, Roman huffed out of the car, banging the door closed as he went.

The twins turned back to each other.

Jey leaned back in the chair, defeated, "What in the fuck is wrong with these people?"

Jimmy shook his head, "Everything. This is so fucked up. So Roman don't know that Dean feels the same."

"And Dean don't know that Roman does either."

"Well... well should we tell them?"

"What?" scoffed Jey, "No way! This is too good, I wanna see how it plays out."

Jimmy wanted to disagree, but he hated to admit that Jey was right.

They sat in their chairs trying to figure out what the hell kinda mess Dean and Roman had gotten themselves into. Suddenly, Jey let out a laugh, "Only thing that would make this better is if Enzo had feelings for Dean and Ro."

Jimmy let out a snort at that, and then stopped.

"No way, that's... you don't think he does, do you?"

"Oh my god, what if he does?"

They stared at each other again, thinking about it. Either way, they did know one thing. This week was gonna be fun.

:::

 **So, quite an eventful night for the boys, huh?**

 **-Seth figured out how to get Dean and Roman to take him back.  
-Corey and Enzo are now basically out in the open.  
-Roman went after Corey, and landed himself a problematic match at SummerSlam.  
-Corey's having problems with his own feelings, and Enzo's too dumb to notice.  
-Dean and Roman are finding it hard to keep their feelings secret.  
** **-And The Usos are keen to start messing shit up.**

 **Thoughts anyone?**

 **Your reviews are greatly appreciated and very helpful, (and they also motivate me to update faster *hinthint*)** **so please don't forget to let me know what you're thinking. Even if you think it's shit, let me know.**

 **Okay? Okay.**

 **Okay, buh bye. :) and see you next time.**

 **-Leeh**


	28. Broken Trust

"Alright, so what's the plan?"

Jey frowned at Jimmy, "Plan?"

"Yeah, the plan. I mean, we can't just let this thing go quietly. I'll go crazy."

"Calm down Uce," Jey shushed his brother, "There is no plan. The Universe has it's way of sorting this kinda shit out."

"Yeah, I ain't planning to wait that long, man." scoffed Jimmy.

"It's all about patience, dude. These guys aren't the smartest, so somethings bound to slip at some point. Or eventually they'll figure it out for themselves. Especially since Enzo's probably got the same fucked up feels."

"We don't know that for sure though," shrugged Jimmy, "I mean, what are the chances of that happening?"

"Probably about the same chances of a couple catching feelings for the same guy. at the same time."

"Yeah, but-"

"What are you two whispering about?"

The twins turned and saw Enzo at the end of the hallway, holding a slice of pizza and looking at them with narrowed eyes.

Before either of the twins could answer, a door opened in the long hallway, and Roman stepped out, followed by a burst of steam with a towel wrapped around his waist, and his hair sitting wet on his shoulders.

He was too busy rubbing at his hair to notice that he had an audience. And then Jey had a thought. An idea, and before he could even decide if it was a good one or not, he grinned, and Roman didn't see it coming when Jey suddenly grabbed a corner of his towel and ripped it away.

Roman yelped as he tried to cover himself up, "Dude what the fuck!"

The twins just threw their heads back, laughing, and Roman grabbed the towel back and scurried to his room, cursing at them and slamming his door shut.

The whole encounter lasted only a few seconds, but a few seconds was just enough. Jey grinned as he nudged Jimmy and pointed at Enzo, who was staring wide eyed at the spot that Roman had just left, his mouth still full of Pizza remains.

Enzo was speechless. Utterly speechless. He'd just seen Roman Reings' ass. Right there in front of him. Luckily, Roman hadn't seen him see, which was good, because that meant he hadn't seen the stupid look that was on Enzo's face right now.

It had only lasted a few seconds, but the image was like a brand in Enzo's brain. The image of Roman's ass and back still wet from the dripping of his pitch back hair would always come up in Enzo's mind whenever he thought of perfection.

The Usos couldn't help it anymore. They burst out laughing, bringing Enzo out of his stupor.

"Ah, the Universe does work in mysterious ways," sighed Jey.

"Dude is he drooling?" Jimmy grinned, "I think he's drooling!"

Enzo blinked at them from the other end of the hallway, "No!" he yelled, but still swiped the back of his hand across his chin, just in case, "I... I'm not... I wasn't... I didn't... I'm not... uh-"

"Aw don't hurt yourself Amore."

Before Enzo could try to say anything else, the bathroom door opened again, and Dean stepped out. Wearing nothing. He too didn't see Enzo as he stepped out. Which was good, because Dean hadn't even bothered to cover himself up.

"Dude!" yelled Jimmy, "There's towels in there!"

"Oh," Dean shrugged unapologetically, "I thought you'd all be asleep already."

He just walked past the Usos and followed Roman into their room.

Enzo hadn't even felt it as the slice of pizza fell out of his hand and he let out a sound that sounded a lot like choking.

Oh holy god.

Naked Dean. He'd seen naked Dean only a few seconds after seeing naked Roman and damn was this was a heart attack felt like?

Dean's hair was a lot darker when it was wet, and it too was dripping water down his back and his impossibly slim waist and his oh so perfect ass. And when he'd walked away slowly... oh holy god.

"Helloooo? Earth to Amore?"

Enzo blinked as a hand waved across his face. and was shocked to see that the Usos were now right in front of him.

"Well well well." said Jimmy slowly, "This is interesting."

"Enzo has a crush on Roman and Dean. This is fucking gold."

This time, Enzo's denials were hardly even words. Just a series of grunts and stutters that he hoped would make the Usos believe that they were wrong.

Even _he_ knew that they were way past that point now.

"Go on," Jey patted his back, "Take your time."

It did take a while, but Enzo finally managed to choke out "You can't say anything!"

Jey scoffed, "Well we might not have to. Just for future reference, you should probably wear better fitting pants if you wanna keep your secrets."

Enzo looked down in horror, and saw that his sweatpants were doing a very poor job of hiding his feelings at that moment.

He let out a groan as his hand slapped at his face.

"You'd better not say anything!" he yelled again as he scurried off to his room which was across the hall from Roman and Dean's. Only a second after, his head popped through the door.

"I meant please," he said quietly, "Please don't tell."

The Usos were left in the hallway with shit eating grins on their faces.

"Dude, we totally gotta tell 'em." hissed Jimmy.

"No fucking way! This is too good, we still got a long week ahead of us, you know." he threw an arm around Jimmy's shoulder and they made their way to the kitchen, "Now, it's time for you to say it.

Jimmy scoffed, "Huh?"

Jey turned to Jimmy with a grin, "Say it. I want you to say it. _You were right_ _Jey_. Go on, say it."

Jimmy scoffed, "I ain't saying that."

Jey rolled his eyes, "Yeah but you're thinking it."

:::

Corey arrived in Brooklyn on Tuesday afternoon. The last Smackown LIVE before SummerSlam would be happening here, and so would the Pay Per View.

He got his rental car and checked into his hotel and left his bags and then left to get some food. He hated fast food, but he hated cooking more, so he found the first Dominos Pizza place he could. Before he even got to the doors, he heard a ruckus inside, with voices that were far too familiar.

"For the last time, no fucking bananas."

"They don't even do bananas as a topping here."

"Well that's cool. We'll just get plain cheese and get bananas at a grocery store."

"You know after three years I thought your taste would have improved a little."

"There is nothing wrong with my taste, alright?"

There were scoffs all around, and Corey finally turned into the pizza place and saw them. Ambrose, Rollins and Enzo.

Corey thought that he had had enough of these guys for the week, so he tried to turn around before they even saw him. Unluckily for Corey, his eyes locked with Dean's just as he was about to go.

The mirth in Dean's eyes went away with a flash, quickly replaced with something that Corey could only explain as hatred. Dean shook his head at Corey slowly. Almost as if it was a threat.

Now, Corey didn't take kindly to threats, and he wasn't a coward. But he wasn't stupid either. Causing a scene in a public place was not on his agenda today. People were staring enough as it was at the WWE Superstars, and he was not in the mood to make it worse. So he just scoffed at Ambrose and turned around.

He'd find somewhere else to eat.

When he got back to his hotel room with a packet of McDonald's, he dropped it on the table and when straight for the bed. He knew that he should probably be getting ready for the night, but it was getting quite difficult to actually do stuff at the moment.

He pulled out his phone and stared at it for a while, before sighing and deciding to do something he swore he'd never do. He called a friend.

He regretted it as soon as she answered the phone.

 _"I knew you'd come back to me!_ " the yell came immediately.

Corey sighed, "Excuse me?"

" _You know how it goes. If you love something, let it go. And if it's meant to be, it'll come back. See, that's why I haven't been calling all week, I was letting you go. And no you came back! Damn, do you know how hard it is having your number and not calling it?"_

Corey sighed again, "Don't make me regret calling you, Leah."

" _Right, of course,_ " she cleared her throat, " _Hey Corey, what's up?"_

Corey rolled his eyes, but still let out a little smile that he was glad she couldn't see.

"I'm just bored," he shrugged.

 _"You mean lonely?"_

"Leah," he warned.

 _"Right, sorry. I mean, why are you bored? I mean, it's Smackdown later! And it's SummerSlam week! I keep my ticket in my panties drawer so I know never to lose it. It's right between the lacy purple one and the one with a penguin on the ass."_

"I did not need to know that!" He snapped, with an involuntary chuckle!"

Leah just laughed back, " _The point is, it's exiting times! And besides, Enzo told me that he's staying with The Usos! Why don't you go there too? Isn't it about times you became friends with his friends? Plus, booty calls are a lot easier when you're staying in the same house, right? By the way, are you still doing the booty call thing or have you finally admitted that you guys are dating?"_

"Leah!" Corey sighed, exasperated, "You realize you asked about five questions and didn't give me room to answer any?"

" _Well if you called more often I wouldn't have so many questions!"_ she said _, "Which kinda brings me back to 'why are you calling'. Last I recall you told me to leave you alone forever_."

Corey thought about that, "Yeah, well... about that..."

 _"Don't worry, Corey,"_ she smiled _, "I forgive you. Now tell me, what did you do to Enzo?"_

Corey blinked, "What?"

" _Well you know the whole world saw Roman Reigns almost stomp you last night, so you must've done something."_

Corey snarled, "As if that barbarian ever needs a legitimate reason to attack people. I did nothing."

Leah snorted, _"Barbarian? So I take it you're still not friends with them."_

"I'm not the friend type Leah, you should know that by now."

She giggled, "Yeah, it's starting to show."

"Now you know, I called you so _I_ could talk, but you haven't let me get a word in edgewise."

" _Right_ ," Leah cleared her throat, " _My bad. What's up?_ "

Corey thought for a while, realising that he didn't have much to say. He sighed, "Nothing."

 _"Are you okay?"_ her voice was quiet, not as animated as usual.

"Yeah," said Corey, "I'm fine. Just... wanted to talk I guess."

 _"Okay."_

There was silence on the phone as Leah waited for Corey to talk, and Corey said nothing. He waited for her to start going on psychoanalyzing him and telling him how lonely he was, but thankfully, she didn't. Not this time.

" _You wanna hear about this big fight I saw on Campus?"_

Corey let out a little smile. "Yeah, what happened?"

 _"Well I say 'saw', but really, i was in it. But it totally wasn't my fault. You see, what had happened was..."_

Corey leaned back with a small smile as he listened. He always went on about how annoying he found Leah Mayne, but right now, he was kinda glad she existed.

:::

Back in the Domino's, Enzo had been too busy looking up toppings to notice the interaction between Dean and Corey. Seth however, was not.

"What the hell was that?" he asked Dean quietly.

Dean just shook his head, "We just don't like that guy."

"We?" Seth frowned, "Wait, I thought Roman attacking him was an accident."

Dean looked at him pointedly, and Seth raised his eyebrows, "It wasn't an accident." he said.

Dean just sighed and turned back to the toppings, "Come on, we've been here a half hour already, we should pick something." Now Seth hadn't spent time with Dean in a long time, but he still knew that asking more questions right now would be a bad idea. So he dropped it.

For now.

It took another while for them to come to a joint decision, and then made it back to the car with 7 boxes of Pizza, all with different toppings.

When they got back to the house, there was a big blow up in the kitchen. They heard the yelling before they even walked in.

Jimmy and Jey were on one side of the kitchen, and Roman was on the other, and they were all shouting very angry words at each other.

None of them were in English.

"Are they speaking Samoan?" Enzo asked quietly, "I didn't know they spoke Samoan."

"Well they are Samoan, Enzo." sighed Seth.

"Yeah and I'm Italian. Don't mean I know anything after 'Ciao'."

The three were yet to be noticed, and they just stood there wondering what was being said.

Not surprisingly, Jimmy and Jey were ganging up on Roman.

"You gotta tell 'em, man!" Jimmy was yelling.

"Why the hell would I do that?" Roman kept saying, "Would ya'll just stay out of it and let me freak out in peace!"

"We can't do that Uce, this thing is eating at me! In my bones, Roman. In. My. Bones!"

"Well then maybe you should try and forget about it, okay?"

"Try and forget about it?" Jey seethed, "We can't do that man, you know we can't!"

"Besides, if you wanted us to forget about it, why did you ask for our help?"

"I didn't ask for your help!" yelled Roman, "You guys are just butting in!"

"Oh Ro, we ain't even started butting in."

Suddenly, there was a cleared throat behind them, and the three screaming Samoans finally saw that they were no longer alone.

"Sorry to interrupt," Seth said quietly, "But the Pizza's getting cold."

"Pizza," Roman sighed gratefully, "Thank god for Pizza."

"We ain't done with this cuz," glared Jimmy as he grabbed a box.

"Done with what?" frowned Enzo.

"Nothing," said Roman, "Nothing at all. Let's eat!"

The situation was not at all resolved, but the thought of food got everyone to sit down for a second and enjoy the meal.

However, after a single bite from one of the boxes, Jey made a face, "Are these fucking bananas?"

:::

As the Usos had promised, they did not let up for the rest of the week.

Dean and Enzo and Roman were mentally exhausted by Saturday, tired of the interrogations, and all their denials and all their pleading for the twins to keep their mouths shut. The only time they caught a break was when the weekend came, and the twins had something far more important to worry about besides their cousin and his boyfriends.

Their birthday.

It would only be on Tuesday, but on Saturday evening, Jey's house was set up for what he called the party of the year.

"Remind me again why we're having your birthday party before your actual birthday," sighed Roman as he lugged another box of ice outside."

"I told you Uce," said Jey, coming behind him with a cases of beer, "SummerSlam is tomorrow. Everyone will hate each other after that so we might as well have fun before the claws start coming out."

"Well look at that, you're making sense for once," laughed Naomi as they reached the small group outside.

Jey glared, "Remind me again why I even like you?"

She just laughed again, "Yeah, I love you too brother."

Back inside the house, Jimmy and Dean were also getting ready for the party, and were having a competition about who could marinate the most steaks in the least amount of time. Enzo was judging while finishing all the chips.

When Carmella saw them, she sighed, "Enzo I thought you was supposed to be takin' those outside."

"I'm just testing to see if they're stale he shrugged, popping some more into his mouth, "FYI, they're not."

"Shut up, we're concentrating!" yelled Jimmy.

Carmella sat down next to Enzo and took from his chip packet. Enzo frowned as she set her Money in the Bank briefcase on the table.

"Did you seriously bring that thing to my birthday party?" sighed Jimmy as he paused in his meat tossing, "You're gonna piss off my wife even more that you already have."

"Yeah," scoffed Carmella, "I still can't believe you guys invited me."

"We actually didn't," muttered Jimmy.

"And yet here I am," she grinned opening another packet of chips, "And besides-"

"Done!" yelled Dean, throwing his hands up, "I'm done I win!"

"Hey!" barked Jimmy, "That's not fair I was distracted."

"You act like I care Uso," grinned Dean, "Now let's take these babies out!"

Jimmy slapped the steak in his hand down, glaring at Carmella, "You happy now?"

She just shrugged, a smirk on her face, "Who cares about the stupid steaks anyway, it's just a party"

"Just a-" Jimmy took a deep breath, trying to control himself, "Its a barbecue. A birthday barbecue. And I was winning."

"No one cares Uso. It's not like anyone's gonna show up a day before SummerSlam anyway."

"Enzo you better get your girl," he said through clenched teeth.

"Right," he cleared his throat, "'Mella, shut up a bit won't you?"

Carmella sighed "Fine, Im'ma be nice."

Jimmy and Dean started taking the steaks out, Jimmy all the while glaring at Miss Money in the Bank.

Carmella turned to Enzo when it was just them two, "Is Corey coming?" she asked.

Enzo shrugged, "Told me he'd come if Roman publicly apologized for pushing him."

"Sooo, he's not coming." Carmella snorted, "Anyway, two hundred bucks says when Roman and Dean start drunkenly making out on the couch, you'll go to Corey's hotel room anyway."

Enzo glared at her, "You know, sometimes I don't like you."

Carmella just laughed and kissed his cheek, "Love you too babe."

As it turned out, Carmella had been wrong. Practically everyone showed up, from Raw and Smackdown alike. Even some undesirables.

When Roman saw Cass walk through the door, his face all whole and healed, he all but leapt out of his seat to thrown him back out.

Luckily, Jey stuck out his arm, stopping him, "No fighting at our birthday party!" he glared.

"But-"

"Here, just have another beer." said Jimmy.

Roman was all set to argue, until he realised what happened the last time he had a face to fist confrontation with Cass. He took the beer from Jey and chugged down half of it in one gulp.

"Does your hate for Cass have anything to do with your feelings for Enzo? Cause far as I know, Enzo don't even care about Cass anymore."

Roman narrowed his eyes at his cousins. The three of them were on fold up chairs by the barbeque while Kofi and Xavier tossed more steaks for everyone. Dean and Enzo were inside hogging the chips again.

Roman sighed, "Could we not talk about that right now? And no. There're a whole lot of reasons I hate Cass. But my little... Enzo thing ain't one of 'em."

Jey scoffed, "Your little Enzo thing? That's what we're calling it now?"

"News flash for you Ro, it ain't that little, alright"

Roman scoffed, "Shut up."

"We've done enough shutting up," scoffed Jimmy, "And trust me, we've seen you all week looking at Enzo the same fucking way you look at Dean."

"And covering up all his boo boos with kisses."

"And hugging him for ages after a bad dream."

"And making him fucking tea every night."

"And making sure he sleeps."

"And-"

"Alright alright!" Roman held his hands up, "I get it."

The twins snorted, "Point is Roman," Jey slapped a hand on his shoulder, "This Enzo thing ain't little. And it's about time you face it."

Roman glared, "Since when do you two give mature advice?"

"It's our birthday," grinned Jimmy, "We're all old and wise."

Before anything else could be said, there was a commotion coming towards them.

"Hey! Why the long faces birthday boys, I come bringing tequila!" the three turned around to see Seth with a bottle in one hand and a tray of shot glasses in the other. The way he was stumbling suggested that he didn't really need anymore tequila.

"I'm still not cool with this dude," muttered Jimmy.

"Yeah," Jey agreed, "I know ya'll have forgiven and forgotten or whatever, but we sure haven't."

Roman shushed them, "Come on, you've abused him enough for the week, don't you think?" he turned to the dizzy Seth as he got to them.

"What's up Rollins?"

Seth laughed, "Well, I just got yelled at a lot by Naomi so I'm in need of some more shots, how about you?"

"Why was she yelling?" frowned Roman.

Seth leaned in to whisper, and Roman made a face when he got a whiff of his breath "She hasn't forgiven me for the whole 'stabbing you in the back' thing. And she doesn't like that you guys have."

Jimmy grinned as he took the bottle from Seth, "That's my girl."

"Next batch is up!" yelled Xavier from the grill, and people started coming forward.

"Remind me again why The New Day is allowed anywhere near my grill," glared Jey.

"Because they're better at it than you," scoffed Roman, "And besides, what happened to being nice until tomorrow?"

"Changed my mind," he shrugged.

He and Jimmy stood to go get their third round of steaks, and of course they would get first pick because it was their party.

"We're still gonna talk about that thing Ro-" said Jimmy as they left, "We ain't forgot."

"What thing?" frowned Seth.

Roman just sighed, "Don't worry about it. Are you not gonna eat?"

"Right," he nodded, standing up to get some food.

Roman was left with two empty chairs and the bottle of tequila as the party went on around him.

He couldn't help that he wasn't having as much fun as everyone else at that moment. It wasn't as easy for him to put hard feelings aside, even for one night. Especially when that big lug was busy talking to Baron Corbin by the pool. Sitting there in Roman's cousin's house as if he wasn't a big steaming pile of-

"Hey!" Roman's head snapped to his right and he saw that Enzo was suddenly sitting in the chair that had occupied Jey.

"What's wrong?" he asked when he saw the look on Roman's face.

He shook his head and smiled, "Nothing. Nothing 'Zo I'm just... just hungry. And the crowd by the grill is way too big."

"Oh don't worry, Dean's coming with a lot just now.

As if summoned, Dean popped out of the crowd with four plates balanced on his arms.

"How are you doing that?" Enzo threw his hands up, "You've been drinking more than me!"

"It's called being awesome," grinned Dean.

"Why four plates?" asked Roman as he helped them out of his arms.

"The other one was for Seth but he's probably gonna have his head in the toilet any minute now. You know what he's like when drunk."

Dean sat down on the the other chair next to Enzo as the three settled down to eat. Enzo grabbed three beers out of the cooler box in front of them and handed them one each.

"Let's make a toast!" he shouted, the alcohol in his system making him overly enthusiastic.

The other two smiled affectionately at him as they raised their bottles.

"Okay," Dean cleared his throat, "Here's to the twins getting old, "

"I heard that Ambrose!" yelled Jimmy from somewhere in the crowd.

Roman laughed at how offended he sounded, "Okay, something else then."

"To SummerSlam!" offered Enzo.

The other two sighed as their glasses clinked together.

"Yeah." sighed Roman.

"SummerSlam," sighed Dean unenthusiastically.

"Oh come on guys, look at the bright side!"

"There's a bright side?" Roman raised an eyebrow, "Where?"

Enzo opened his mouth but nothing came out. He sighed, "Okay, I don't know right now, but I'll think of something."

The others shook their heads, having no choice but to chuckle at his unrealistic optimism. They talked as they ate, conversation steering clear of SummerSlam. Even as the plates emptied and more steaks were grilled and more shots were poured and the party went on in the background, the three of them seemed to be completely detached as they talked about things that they'd probably forget about the next day. Roman was completely out of his earlier funk, and then-

"What in the fuck is he doing here?"

Dean's growl cut into Enzo's story about the ducks in the pond when he suddenly noticed who was at the grill.

Roman sighed. Guess it was too much to hope that Dean and Enzo wouldn't see him.

"Jimmy and Jey's stupid open invitation apparently reached everyone."

"Well why haven't they kicked him out yet?" snarled Dean.

"Calm down," said Enzo, "He ain't bothering no one."

"He's bothering me," said Dean.

"Yeah, Im'ma have to go with Ambrose on this one."

They glared at Cass, who luckily had the sense to ignore their presence. He eventually left the grill and headed inside the house.

Enzo sighed dramatically, "You guys, what happened to putting away all our differences until SummerSlam?"

"I honestly don't remember agreeing to that," shrugged Roman.

"Same here."

With another sigh, Enzo grabbed another beer, "Fine, but let's all keep our heads okay? No ruining the party."

Dean frowned at him, "Okay, who died and made you the responsible one?" Roman laughed, happy that the tension was kinda lifting.

"I've always been the responsible one." shrugged Enzo.

That made Roman laugh even harder, "Oh that is rich. Everyone knows I'm the responsible one."

"No you're not, _I'm_ the responsible one!" protested Dean.

Roman bent over, clutching his stomach.

"I am!" Dean huffed, "I'm the responsible one, Enzo's the crazy one, and you're the hot-headed one."

"What?" scoffed Roman, "I am not hot-headed."

It was Dean and Enzo's turn to laugh. Roman glared as they slapped thighs and wiped away tears.

"What the hell is so funny? I am not hot-headed!"

"Oh really Ro?" Dean cackled, "Did you forget that time you smashed a champagne glass in your fist when you didn't win the Slammy's?"

"Those things are brittle!"

"Or!" cut in Enzo, "Or that time you threw the weights against the wall when Dean was faster than you in reps?"

"That wasn't fair my weights were heavier than his!"

Dean piped in again, "Or that time you threw the controller at the TV when you lost Grand Theft Auto?"

"It's not my fault I like to stop at the red lights." he huffed.

"Or that time you crashed Braun Strowman into a Semi trailer truck?"

Roman huffed, "Okay, fine, shut up I get it."

"Or that time you went to jail for assault!" cackled Dean.

"W-wait what?" gasped Enzo, his laughed dwindling, "When was this?"

Dean didn't seem to notice, "Or that time you fucking broke Cass's face!" he slapped his thigh as he laughed. It took him a few seconds to realise that he was laughing alone.

He looked up and saw the wide eyed look of confused shock on Enzo's face. His smile faded as his eyes snapped to Roman, seeing his face frozen and wide eyes.

Dean gulped.

"Ah shit."

Enzo turned slowly to Roman, "What did he just say?"

Roman blinked at him, "Uh-"

"I didn't... I didn't mean that." said Dean softly.

Enzo's head snapped from Dean's face to Roman's, and it was obvious that he could tell that Dean in fact had meant every word.

"It was you?" he asked quietly, "You... you're the one who hurt Cass?"

"Enzo," gulped Roman, "I... I..."

"You're the one who almost ruined his whole face?"

"Enzo-" started Dean.

"Why would you do that?" he gasped, "Why the hell would you-"

"Dude," tried Roman, "You gotta understand that-"

"Understand?" Enzo yelled in frustration, "Understand what exactly? How you fucking brutalized him for no reason?"

"Would you just calm down a bit and-"

"Don't tell me to calm down! You can't just do that to people for no reason!"

"I didn't do it for no reason!"

"What he did to me was ages ago. I'm getting over it, honestly. You don't have to go assaulting him whenever-"

"That's not why I did it!" Roman fired back.

"They you did it for no reason?!"

"Oh I had my reasons," said Roman through gritted teeth.

"What?" spat Enzo, "What in the hell would make you want to do something like that?"

The silence that followed was tangible. The sound of the party going on around them was unbearably loud as the three stared at each other. And Enzo waited for an explanation.

"Enzo, he-"

"Roman," cut in Dean quietly, "Don't,"

Roman sighed as he looked at Dean. Dean was right. They really didn't want to bring this up. Especially when they had been having such a good time. Especially when Enzo had been doing so well. Why the hell would they want to start talking about his past attempted suicides?

"Don't what?" asked Enzo, "What the hell aren't you telling me?"

They really didn't want to bring this up. But it didn't look like they had much of a choice right now.

Roman finally tore his eyes from Dean and looked back at Enzo.

"Remember the first time we all went to your place in Orlando? The night when we won that match against Cass and Strowman and The Big Show?"

Enzo nodded, "We got real drunk and lost the car. But what does that have to do with..."

"Well," said Roman. "The next morning, while you were asleep, I went to go find the car and... well, I ran into Cass. We got into it and he was saying all this stuff and... and he said..."

Roman was trying really hard to get it out. But the look on Enzo's face was making it really damn hard. And with all these stupid feelings that had started fucking him up, it was kinda impossible.

Seeing his struggle, Dean decided to take over.

"Cass told Roman that... that you had tried to kill yourself before. Twice. And... and he hoped to see if you'd try again any time soon."

The silence that followed was nearly tangible. Enzo blinked slowly as he let the words sink in. He looked from Roman to Dean, waiting for something in their faces to suggest that they were joking.

All he found was shifting eyes that refused to look him in the eye.

"He told you that.." he swallowed, finding that his throat was all of a sudden closed up, "He told you that I... that I tried to kill myself."

Roman nodded once.

"And... and that he hoped to see if I... if I tried again."

"Yeah," whispered Roman.

Enzo swallowed again, "Cass said that?"

This time there was no answer. And Enzo didn't need one.

He nodded once, staring straight ahead. And then his gaze found the door that Cass had entered not so long ago.

He hardly felt it as he got up and made towards it. He didn't even hear Dean and Enzo calling him back, wanting to talk it through. He didn't even hear them follow him. he only had one thing on his mind right then, and when he entered the house, he saw him. Cass with his head in the fridge.

The kitchen was empty except for a passed out Rollins on the counter. Besides that, it was just Enzo and Cass.

"What did I ever do to you?" he found himself saying, his voice a lot stronger than he felt at that moment.

Cass turned away from the fridge, and a twisted smile showed up on his face when he saw Enzo.

"Well if it isn't little-"

"What did I ever do to you!" Enzo found himself yelling as he surged forward. His hands slammed on the island in the middle of the kitchen, and it was the only thing between him and the person he had somehow called his brother.

"Why the hell do you hate me so much? Huh?" he spat, "WHY COLIN? What, because I annoyed you? Because I cost you some matches ? Is that it?"

"You know exactly why I-"

"No! No I don't! You can resent me, sure. You can beat me up in the ring and talk all the trash you want about me, sure I get that. But to stoop so low as so tell Roman the one thing I never wanted anyone to know? Why?! Why would you do that?"

"Amore-"

"Is it because you want me to be alone? Do you really hate me so much that you want me to rot by myself for the rest of my life? Is that it? You knew Cass, you knew that you were the only person in this world who gave a damn about me, and when you decided to stop, you just want everyone else to ditch me too? Is that it?"

"Oh, would you cool it with you sob story?" Cass rolled his eyes, "You mighta fooled those two idiots with it, but I'm done with feeling sorry for you, don't you get that? I'm done."

"Sure, I get that you're done with me Cass, you've made that very clear. So why the hell can't you just leave me with the only good things I have in my life? You can't even let me have that? You're gonna go and tell them that I tried to fucking kill myself? This is low Cass, even for you."

"Well if they're such a good thing in your life, why would you hide it from them, Zo? Is it because deep down you know that no one would actually put up with all your crap? Not even your new little heroes?"

"You shut the hell up,"

"Or because now you know that they've known all along. And they only kept you around because they felt sorry for you. Just like everybody else in the world."

"You shut the hell up!" he yelled again, hating the fact that his voice croaked at the end, "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Then why are they only telling you now?" Cass dug, "If they're known all along, why would they only tell you now?" suddenly he chucked, "You know I bet they didn't. I bet you found out by yourself. And you know why they didn't tell you Enzo?"

"Shut up," this time his voice came out as a whisper.

"Because not even Ambrose and Reigns want to be around a freak like you, Amore. You fail at everything, Enzo. You fail at work, you fail at friends, you fail at relationships. Hell, you even fail at suicide. Who the hell would want that kind of freak around all the time?"

"That's enough," Cass looked up behind Enzo and saw that the doorway was no longer empty.

As expected, Dean and Roman stood in the doorway, both looking like they were a hair away from pouncing on him.

"Ah, and here are the dashing heroes," he said mockingly.

"Cassady, you better get the hell out of this house," Roman's voice was pure venom, but Cass still smirked.

"I thought this was an open invitation," he shrugged.

"Not anymore." Cass looked behind the two and saw the Usos standing behind them.

"Get the hell out of my house Cassady," said Jey.

Even Cass wasn't stupid enough to think he could take three angry Samoans and a Lunatic, so he put his hands up and backed away, still with that insufferable smirk on his face.

"See you in the ring, Amore," he said, before turning around and leaving through the open porch.

Enzo hadn't moved from his spot. His eyes were still trained at the spot were Cass had been standing. His arms limp at his side and his throat with a lump as big as a watermelon.

"Enzo?" he heard Roman's voice behind him, "Enzo you know none of that was true."

Enzo said nothing. Hell he didn't even move or acknowledge them.

"Enzo?" this time it was Dean, "Enzo buddy- come on, look at us."

Still they were ignored. Dean and Roman glanced at each other worriedly. They had heard what Cass had said, And they knew how that man could get to Enzo.

"Enzo-"

Roman was cut off when Enzo finally moved. But not towards them. He walked to the door that went further into the house in silence.

Dean and Roman watched helplessly as he walked away from them without another word.

:::

 **Well there it is. Out in the open.**

 **Just when Enzo was getting happy...**

 **Anyway, let me know your thoughts. I love hearing (reading) your thoughts.**

 **-Leeh**


	29. Broken Art

Enzo was sitting on the corner two streets away from Jey's house. He was concentrating a lot on his breathing.

He sat like that, breathing and blinking. Breathing and blinking. That was all he could do. That was all he could will himself to do. He didn't know how long he sat there. It could have been hours or minutes. He couldn't think about time, he was too busy breathing and blinking. Breathing and blinking. Breathing and blin-

"Enzo."

Enzo looked up, and was surprised to see a car right in front of him. He hadn't even heard it drive up.

"I didn't think you'd come." he said quietly.

Corey shrugged from the drivers seat, "had nothing better to do. Are you coming in?"

Enzo stood up heavily, and made his way over to Corey's car, getting in the passengers seat. Corey looked at him for a longtime as the car filled with silence.

"Alright, something tells me this isn't a booty call." he said slowly.

Enzo didn't answer. Hell, he hardly even moved.

"Aren't you missing the big Uso party?" Corey said again, "Thought that was some huge deal."

Still, nothing from the ever chatty Amore. Corey blinked at him.

"Enzo?"

Still, nothing. It didn't even look like he was blinking. This was making Corey very uncomfortable. Seeing Enzo all quiet like this was unsettling. Watching him be so somber was downright scary.

"Enzo," he said softly, "Hey, what's wrong? What happened?"

Enzo still didn't answer. Corey had to wonder if he was even hearing him. Okay, this was beyond worrying.

"Alright, said Corey, you don't gotta talk just show me you're breathing."

Even that didn't get a response.

Corey sighed, "Okay, you want me to take you back to the party? Or back to my hotel room?" still nothing, "Or we could just sit in the car for the rest of the night. Up to you."

Corey wasn't even expecting a reply this time, and he didn't get one either.

"Okay, hotel it is," he said to himself.

He drove in silence, throwing the occasional worried glance to Enzo every few seconds.

When they arrived at the hotel, he had to coax Enzo out of the car and through the hotel and finally to his room, which was thankfully only on the first floor.

In his room, Enzo went to the bed and lay face down on a pillow. It didn't seem like he planned to move any time soon.

With a sigh, Corey went straight to his mini fridge. He didn't know what was going on, and he didn't know what was wrong with Enzo, and he didn't know how to fix it, but he at least knew how to make him forget.

He poured dozens of mini bottles onto the bed and nudged Enzo.

"Come on Amore, bottoms up."

Enzo finally looked up from the pillow and saw the alcohol. Corey let out a rare small smile and held out a bottle. When Enzo took it, he couldn't help but feel a certain triumph.

Enzo sat up, taking the pillow with him as he did, and popped the bottle open. He and Corey clinked bottles and poured the contents down their throats.

It only took three mini whiskeys for Enzo to start talking. But what he had to say was far from what Corey was expecting.

Enzo sighed as he polished off the last whiskey, and then he looked at Corey.

"I tried to kill myself." he said.

Corey froze. He had had a bottle halfway to his mouth, and had to concentrate not to spill it as he stared at Enzo.

"What?"

"I... I tried to kill myself," he said again with a deep breath.

Corey looked at him or a long time, and Enzo made it a point to look away.

"Like... like... today?" Corey had to ask.

Enzo shook his head, "No. No it was two years ago. And then again last year." he took a breath.

Corey set his drink down. As soon as he did, Enzo snatched it up and downed it.

"E... Enzo." Corey said softly, "I don't... I-"

"Don't believe it?" he snorted, "Yeah, I know."

Corey knew that the shocked look on his face wasn't helping, but he couldn't help it. He couldn't... he couldn't...

"Please tell me you're joking," he said quietly.

It's then that Enzo looked up, and Corey was horrified to see that his eyes were wet. He sat up straighter and took off his jacket.

"You never wondered why I got so many random tattoos?" he shrugged, slipping it off.

He twisted his arm around and pointed at the designed cross on his shoulder blade.

"That's the first time I used a razor," he said, "Hurt like a bitch, but it... it helped I guess."

Corey stared at him, his eyes going from his face to his shoulder.

"Enzo-"

"Wasn't deep or nothin'-" he shrugged, "Just... I felt like it. And... and I ended up not stopping. I did it a lot. Like... a lot. Hid all the cuts with tattoo's though." he shrugged, "Works pretty well actually."

He pointed at the disguised marks that Corey would have otherwise never seen. And the fact that Enzo was just showing them to him... he didn't know what to think about that.

"They were all pretty shallow to start with," shrugged Enzo, "I was always too much of a wimp to go real deep. Never actually needed to -" he swallowed hard and held out his left arm, palm down, "Except this one."

The tattoo was one of a big willow tree. It was beautiful art, but as someone who also had multiple tattoos, Corey could tell that the thickest line of the bark was not ink. Not at all.

He traced a finger over the line and immediately felt the rugged rise of the scar.

Corey looked up at Enzo's face, which was still pooling with silent tears.

"It.. it was right after a really bad nightmare," he all but whispered, "I couldn't sleep. For days I didn't sleep, so one night I took my anxiety meds and I just started taking them down with a bottle of Jack and, well, that fucked me up quite a bit. Thought it would be as good a time as any to finish myself off, ya know? The pills make your blood thin, did you know? A lot of them make bleeding out go a lot faster than it usually would. Especially if you cut deep enough. So... so that's what I did."

Enzo stared down at the tree on his arm. The arm that Corey hadn't let go of.

"Cass found me," he said again after a while, "Took me to the hospital, and they fixed me up, so... that was a fail. I would have tried again sooner but... but Mama and Leah were crushed, so I held off. For them, you know."

Corey didn't know if Enzo wanted him to say something, but right now, he couldn't have talked if he tried.

"But then last year," Enzo sighed, "Leah was back in school and Mama had her old people friends and Cass was with Carmella a lot and... and there was no one really around to stop me so... so I tried again. And Cass found me again. And I failed. Again."

Enzo held out a hand and Corey quickly gave him another little bottle of alcohol.

He drank it slower than he had the others, which was hopefully a good sign. Enzo shuffled back on the bed and lay down, staring at the ceiling.

"You know I... I never told anyone this." said Enzo as he tried to blink away the tears that were still coming, "Only people who knew about it are Mama and Leah and Cass."

Corey moved the bottles away and lay down next to Enzo, "Nobody else knows?"

Enzo closed his eyes, "Roman and Dean know," he said with a croak in his voice, "Cass told them." he swallowed hard, "The one thing I never wanted them to know about me and Cass... Cass just told them."

"Why didn't you want them to know?" Corey couldn't help but ask.

Enzo sighed, "Graves, I'm already a fucking mess. Why would I want 'suicidal' added to my resume of patheticness?"

Corey nodded, "Well then... why are you telling me?"

Enzo shrugged, "I... I don't know." he sighed, actually looking up at Corey, "I... I guess it's cause you already know how pathetic I am. One more thing on top of that ain't gonna make much of a difference, right? But Dean and Roman..." he shook his head, "how am I supposed to face them again? How are they even gonna look at me now they know that I..." he sighed, "I don't wanna lose them Corey. They're the only people who give two shits about me right now."

Enzo sighed as he rubbed his head.

"I'm gonna try not to be offended by that."

Enzo frowned and turned his head to look at Corey with narrowed eyes, "Why the hell would you be offended by that?"

Corey scoffed, "You fucking idiot. It's 2 in the morning and you're in my hotel drinking my booze and making my pillow wet while I listen to you be sad about the guys you're in love with. And you still think they're the only ones who give a shit about you? Are you really that stupid?"

Enzo blinked up at him saying nothing for a while, and he realised that Corey was right.

He had been there for Enzo so much these past weeks. How many nights had Enzo ranted to him about Roman and Dean? How many nights had he crawled into his bed and talked his ear off while Corey just listened without a complaint?

Well, he had complained, a lot, but still, he always listened. Always.

Enzo smiled slightly, "You know, when most people tell you they give a shit about you, they don't end it with telling you you're stupid."

Corey chuckled, "Yeah well, I ain't most people."

Enzo let out a humourless chuckle, and rubbed a hand over his face with a long sigh.

"Corey?" he said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"How do I stop?"

Corey blinked, "What do you mean?"

"How do I get over them? I mean, I know you think it's stupid, how I feel. Hell _I_ think it's stupid. But I don't know how to get over them." he sighed again as he turned his head to look at Corey, "I really fucking love them. I fucking love 'em so much and there ain't nothing I can do about it and I don't know to get over it. How am I supposed to get over it?"

Corey sighed softly as Enzo looked at him pleadingly with those big blue eyes. Looking for answers that Corey didn't have.

"Enzo," he said eventually, "There's not a person in this world who can pick who they fall in love with. Not one. And how you feel, it's not stupid. So don't think like that, okay? Just... just wait for it. Wait for it to get better. It will eventually, okay? I promise."

Enzo smiled at Corey. His first smile in a while, and Corey couldn't help but be proud of himself.

"You willing to admit that we're friends yet?"

Corey let out a chuckle, "Fine. Fine, we're friends."

Enzo fell asleep not long after that. The tears that he'd grown too tired of wiping away were drying on his face. His last empty mini bottle was still lightly gripped in his hands, and his hair was flopping over his eyes.

Before Corey knew what he was doing, he brushed the hair away, curling it behind his ear. He then took his thumb and wiped gently under his eyes, taking away the last of his tears.

He sincerely hoped to never see Enzo cry ever again. He always made it point to let Enzo know how much he did not enjoy his company, and how annoying he was, and how his day would always be ruined by his presence.

Corey finally realised that he had been lying to himself. And to Enzo. He was a huge liar, and today he'd finally admitted that he gave a shit about the guy.

He actually cared. A lot.

Corey sighed as he finally tore his eyes away from the sleeping Enzo.

Just his luck that the moment he actually realised he cared about Enzo, was the moment he had to return him to his... to...

Corey didn't know what to call them. He wanted to say travel buddies. But they were a lot more than that to Enzo.

He also wanted to call them... roommates? No... no that was trivial, And pubescent.

Dean and Roman weren't his roommates. Enzo fucking loved them. He fucking loved them, and for some reason, consciously thinking it made Corey want to throw up.

And on top of that, Corey was pretty damn sure that Dean and Roman weren't thinking of Enzo as just a friend anymore.

Pretty damn sure.

Now, Corey knew that he was probably the only person who knew how both parties felt about each other, and he could save Enzo a lot of heartache if he just told him to tell them how he felt.

But on the other hand, if Enzo did that, he knew for a fact that Dean and Roman would tell him how they felt. And then the three of them would live happily ever after and Enzo wouldn't need Corey anymore.

He wouldn't need him to listen to his complaints anymore and he wouldn't need him to cry to anymore and he wouldn't need him for sex anymore and... and Corey would go back to being just some guy he worked with. Some guy he worked with who'd have to watch Enzo with other people.

The thought was far from appealing.

Corey wondered if he'd go to hell for keeping quiet. Just so he could keep Enzo a little longer.

:::

It was hours after the party. But to Dean and Roman, the fun had ended way before that. When Enzo left the house, they had sat in the living room, watching the door and waiting for him to come back. Jimmy and Jey had insisted on waiting with them, but Dean and Roman insisted that they go on and enjoy their party.

The twins watched them worriedly from the doorway. They'd heard everything that had been said in that kitchen, and they didn't know what to say. They didn't know what to think when they heard that Enzo...

That he'd...

They hadn't spent much time with the little guy, but this week with him had been enough to make them consider the dude family, and hearing that their family had tried to kill himself... well, it just made it kinda hard to go back to enjoying the party. And seeing Dean and Roman now, staring at that door while they gripped each others' hands and waited for Enzo to come back...

Jimmy and Jey looked at each other worriedly.

"I knew that they had feelings but.. I didn't know it was this bad." whispered Jimmy.

Jey nodded, "He'll come back, and then they're gonna talk. And they're all gonna tell each other. Because this ain't a little thing anymore. When he comes back." Jey looked at Jimmy worriedly, "He's gonna come back, right?"

Jimmy just sighed, and the two went back outside, leaving Dean and Roman to wait.

That had been hours ago, and the house had long ago gone quiet, and Roman and Dean were still waiting.

The twins were probably passed out upstairs somewhere, Naomi had probably covered them up in blankets and gone to bed. Seth had sat with them for a while before going back upstairs too. The rest of the party was either gone or sleeping somewhere in the garden.

Dean and Roman just sat on the couches, waiting for Enzo to come back.

It seemed like the sun was almost up when there was finally a loud knock on the door.

It was wretched open a few seconds later, and there stood Corey Graves, with an unconscious Enzo in his arms.

"I come bringing gifts," he drawled.

Dean didn't even care to fire back, just letting out a relieved sigh when he saw Enzo.

"Thank fuck," sighed Roman, next to Dean. He stepped forward with his arms out, "Here, let me take him."

Corey sidestepped away from Roman, "I think I'll just lay him down. It was hard enough getting him to go to sleep. We wouldn't want to ruin all my hard work now, would we? Now as I'm sure you know, Amore is a lot heavier than he looks, so why don't you just direct me to his bed and I'll be outta your hair."

Neither man even had the energy to argue with Corey. Roman just sighed and led the way to Enzo's room. Corey trekked the long way up the stairs slowly, partly because Enzo was weighing him down, and partly because he really didn't want him to wake up.

The three walked in silence, and finally got the door that led into Enzo's room.

Corey lay him softly on the bed before flexing his tired arms.

When he turned to the others, he saw them both staring at the sleeping man with looks of complete sadness and adoration on their faces.

Corey scoffed. Could they be any more obvious?

At the sound, Dean and Roman turned to him.

"When... when did he come to you?"

"Right after he found out that you two found out his biggest secret." said Corey.

At that, Dean closed his eyes and sank down onto the chair by the door.

"Look, Graves," started Roman, "We know that you and Enzo are in some kind of relationship, and he obviously loves you enough to tell you everything so-"

At that, Corey couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle. When he felt their eyes on him, he sighed softly.

They had no idea. They really had no idea.

He wanted to tell them that there was no relationship. They weren't together. They were hardly even friends. but that's not what came out.

"Enzo doesn't love me," he said quietly.

Roman looked down, "He tells you everything he doesn't tell us. When he needs to talk, he goes to you. When he needs..." he swallowed hard, looking away, "We know that you two have... nights together. And obviously he told you this... this secret, and he never would have told us."

Corey looked between the two men, a red feeling growing in his heart with every word.

Yeah, Enzo told him everything. All his problems, all his complaints. And yeah, they had 'nights together', but these guys... Ambrose and Reigns got everything. His attention, his time, his everything. They even got his heart. And they didn't even know it.

And Corey hated them for it.

He shook his head again, "Enzo doesn't love me." he said again, "and you two really are dumber than you look."

With that, he turned to the door, "I'll show myself out." Just as he reached the door, Corey stopped, and looked over his shoulder.

"You two better take care of him."

And then he was gone.

Roman stared after him for a while, until he heard the front door open and close.

He looked back into the room, and the softly snoring Enzo and swallowed a lump down his throat. Next to him, Dean stood up and made toward the bed. He softly took the covers by the foot of the bed and draped them over Enzo, covering him up.

Roman watched him softly remove the chains around Enzo's neck, one by one, and place them quietly on the bedside table. He watched as Dean brushed the hair out of Enzo's face, and then he saw his hand linger on his cheek, his thumb stroking under Enzo's eye, and then he quickly drew his hand away and stood up straight.

Roman blinked slowly as he watched Dean, and he felt like he was seeing him for real for the first time in a long time.

Dean turned around, and they looked at each other for a long time, the air between them sparkling.

"Let's get to bed," said Roman quietly. He left Enzo's room to move across the hall, Dean following right after him. Roman went over to sit on the bed, and Dean stayed by the doorway, leaning against the frame.

Dean's eyes stayed down, and Roman looked at him as he avoided his eyes.

"You have feelings for him, don't you."

It was a statement rather than a question, and Dean swallowed when he heard it. He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.

The silence was long until Dean finally opened his eyes and looked up at Roman.

"So do you," he said simply.

The silence was back with a vengeance as they looked each other in the eye, neither man having it in him to deny it.

Because they both knew it was true.

Roman sighed and held out his hand, "Come here." he said quietly.

Dean fell away from the door frame and went towards Roman. He dropped down next to him with a sigh. Roman wound his arm around Dean, letting Dean's head fall onto his shoulder. The two fell back onto the bed, and Dean turned his head so it was tucked in the crook of Roman's neck. He draped an arm over Roman's torso and held on tight. Roman kissed the top of Dean's head, pulling him closer.

They lay like that for a while, just breathing each other in.

"I love you Dean,"

Dean closed his eyes, letting in a shuddering breath.

"I love you, Ro."

Roman swallowed a lump down his throat, "And... and Enzo?"

Dean sighed softly, knowing that there was no use keeping in in anymore. He finally admitted it to himself as he admitted it to Roman.

"I think I love him too."

Roman's grip tightened on Dean, an inexplicable warm feeling coming from deep inside him.

It was strange. Any time Dean so much as looked at someone else for too long, the jealousy in Roman would rage, but here he was now, telling him that he loved their best friend, and there was nothing but warmth in Roman's heart.

Dean lifted his head, his gaze locking with Roman's, "And you?"

Roman looked down at him, letting out a small smile.

"I think I love him too."


	30. Broken Shots

**Hello Hi it's me again and I know I took really long to update and I'm sorry and I'll make it up to you by quicker updates so please don't hate me thank you.**

 **:)**

 **And also, thank you so so much to all the reviewers, especially a select few who give feedback for basically every chapter. I love you guys the most.**

 **And the rest of you who don't, that's cool too. :') :') I'll be fine.**

 **(But it would still be really cool if you did tell me what you think. It helps a lot, honestly.)**

 **Anyway, Im'ma shut up now and let you get back to the interesting stuff.**

 **-Leeh**

:::

"When did you... how did... when..." Dean took deep a breath as he tried to get the question out.

Roman finished it for him.

"You mean when did I start to..."

Dean nodded, "Yeah."

Roman let out a sigh, "I... I don't know. I don't know exactly. But I know I figured it out back in Pensacola. When Jojo made us play Snow White and Enzo had to... kiss me."

Dean nodded, "And did he?"

"Just my cheek," said Roman,, "And I remember being mad that that's all I got."

Dean chuckled, "Yeah that oughta do it."

"And you?"

Dean stuck a tongue in his cheek, "It took me a while to figure it out too. But when I found out that Corey was the one who was... who's..."

"You don't gotta say it," said Roman, "actually, please don't say it."

Dean and Roman had left their room, deciding that sleep was not going to come easy. They'd gone back to the living room, found a half full bottle of whiskey, two shot glasses, and they were talking. Finally getting it all of their chests.

"Anyway," sighed Dean as he poured another round, "That's why I went to see my dad. So he'd tell me what to do."

"Did you get anything useful?"

Dean scoffed, "What do you think?"

Roman chuckled as they clinked glasses and downed the shots.

Roman made a face, "Wow that's real strong."

Dean scoffed, "Or you're just real weak,"

Roman glared at him, and then poured another round defiantly. Dean smirked.

"You're way too easy baby."

That's how their next hour was spent. Drinking and talking, and talking and drinking. As they poured shots, most of the liquor was landing up on the table instead of on the glasses, but they were too far gone to notice.

"You know," hiccuped Roman, "Gina kept telling me to talk to you about it. But I was like... I was like... I was like... nah! I can't tell my boyfriend that I want us to get with our best friend. That's crazy!"

Dean gasped, "That's what I told Jimmy and Jey!"

Roman's eye's widened, "You told Jimmy and Jey?" he whispered.

Dean shrunk back, "Well, I told Jey by accident, and then he told Jimmy. Not by accident. That lil' traitor."

"Same here!" said Roman, "Except I by accident told Jimmy. Who ran his mouth to Jey."

Dean blinked. And then Roman blinked.

"Are you saying... the twins knew about both of us, this entire time-"

"And they didn't say anything?" Roman hissed.

"Those dickheads!"

"Those bastards!"

"Why'd they shut up about it?"

"They shoulda said something!"

"And... and Gina!" gasped Dean.

Roman's eyes widened, "Gina knows about you too?"

Dean huffed, "Dude. Your family sucks!"

"It's your family too you know!"

"Why are you screaming!"

Roman and Dean's head's snapped to the door to see a very tired looking Seth by the door.

"Hey look it's Seth!" grinned Dean, "Hiya Seth!"

"Come here buddy," Roman's smile was dopey as he held his hand out, "Come gt drunk with us."

Seth made a face, "If I see another shot glass I'm gonna hurl."

Dean laughed, "Yeah, you were pretty wasted."

"It was a great party," nodded Seth as he sat down.

"Do you even remember any of it?" Roman frowned..

"No, not much," he admitted with a sigh, "But I do remember waking up real early and waiting with you two on the couch. Waiting for Enzo to come back."

"Yeah, I remember that too," sighed Dean, pouring another round for him and Roman.

"Did he come back?"

Roman nodded.

"Are you gonna tell me why he left in the first place?"

Dean shook his head, and he and Roman took down another shot.

Seth sighed, "Alright then. I'll be more pushy later when I'm not exhausted, and when we're not wasted."

"We're not wasted," scoffed Roman, "Just... kinda drunk. Ish"

Seth shook his head again, "You two are still as weird as ever." he muttered.

Dean scoffed, "You were always the weird one, Rollins."

"True," nodded Roman, "True you were."

Seth just laughed, "Well now Enzo's the weird one, no doubt."

Dean sighed softly, "Yeah. Enzo."

The two just looked at each other in silence. Seth looked from one to the other with a frown on his face.

"Am I missing something?" he muttered.

Roman just sighed, "I think maybe we're also kinda weird. You know... considering."

"Considering... what?" asked Seth.

"We should probably tell him," sighed Dean, pouring another shot, "You know, since everybody else knows anyway."

"Tell me what?" Seth sat up straighter, "What are you telling me?"

Roman sighed, downing his shot before looking at Seth, "Okay," he slurred, "Let's just say.. hypothetically-"

"Hypothetically!" Dean snapped his fingers, "Hypothetically is good, let's go with that."

"Okay," Roman nodded, "say hypothetically, there's these two people, who are like a couple."

"They're a real good couple," nodded Dean, "Like, they're super hot."

"Yeah yeah," agreed Roman, "So there's this super hot couple who are like... super hot. And also, this super hot couple has this really, really super hot friend."

"Yeah he's like... super hot," slurred Dean.

"And now this super hot couple kinda like... fell for the super hot friend."

"Like hard." Dean slammed a fist against the table, "They fell like, super hard."

"You're saying 'super' a lot," muttered Seth.

"Well that's 'cause it's a super hard situation Rollins!" exclaimed Roman, "This doesn't happen a lot."

"Yeah man, this is like, super weird. And the dude's super hot. Did we mention that?"

Roman nodded, "So damn hot."

Seth sighed at his very drunk friends and put his elbows on the table, "Okay, I see what's going on here."

"You do?"

He nodded, "So we can drop the whole 'hypothetical' thing."

"Were we still doing that?" frowned Dean.

Seth rolled his eyes, "Look guys, I get where you're going with this. You're obviously the super hot couple."

"Whoa, he's good," whispered Roman.

"And obviously I know who the super hot friend is."

Roman sighed, "You do?"

"I do," nodded Seth.

"Well that's good 'cause-"

"It's me,"

Dean blinked, "Wait what?"

"It's me," he sighed again, "and really, I get it. I really do."

Roman and Dean blinked at each other, "Uh Seth-"

"And honestly guys, I'm flattered, I really am."

Roman leaned back, "Seth, wait you're kinda-"

"I mean, we just got back together, we really shouldn't complicate things right now."

Dean blinked, "Dude, you're not-"

"And besides, I don't really swing that way anyway. I mean, don't get me wrong, you guys are great, really. But I'm just not-"

"Seth!" Roman interrupted, "It's not you!"

Seth blinked, "It's-it's not?"

"No stupid!" Dean slapped his arm, "It's Enzo!"

Seth blinked again. He leaned back in his chair, "Ooooh," he said, "Yeah that makes a lot more sense." he thought about it some more, "You know actually, this explains a lot. Like, a lot!"

"Yeah," sighed Roman, "It's a super weird situation."

"So that's why you..."

"Uh huh."

"And that's why you guys..."

"Yep."

"So now you're both..."

"Exactly."

Seth sighed again, "Wow. Wow that's... wow."

Dean sighed as he poured another round, "So go on then, tell us what to do. You're all smart and stuff."

Seth scoffed, "Are you kidding? No way, this is your mess. I can't tell you how to process your feelings."

"Why not?" pouted Roman, "You always used to tell us what to do."

"Yeah well, as the leader of the Shield, that was my job."

Roman narrowed his eyes at Seth, "Did he say 'leader of the Shield'?"

Seth cleared his throat, "Uh... well."

"I wanna punch you," said Dean, "Really hard."

Seth backed away, "Okay. Alright. I take it back."

"Well now you can make it up by going to get us another bottle."

Seth scoffed, but then he saw the looks on their faces and sighed, getting up, "Ya'll can't keep treating me like a little brother," he muttered as he went.

Dean turned back to Roman grinning, "I kinda miss bossing him around,"

They laughed as they took the shots, waiting on another bottle.

Seth came back a few moments later.

"Uh guys?"

The two looked to the doorway.

"I'm really glad that you two are talking through your feelings or whatever, but I really think you should also talk to Enzo."

"We will," nodded Roman.

"Yeah. Eventually."

"That's great," Seth said again, "But I was thinking you could do it right now. 'Cause... well... Enzo's leaving."

Dean and Roman blinked at him. And then at each other. And then they got up and ran, stumbling a bit, all the way to Enzo's room, where they found him with his bag on the bed, filling it with his clothes.

Roman gaped at the scene with his mouth open, "Wh- what.. what's going on?"

Enzo turned to them with a gasp, "Oh... you're up."

"Enzo what are you doing?" Dean asked, staring at the bag.

Enzo swallowed as he looked down, "I just...I thought I'd go stay with Corey."

Roman leaned against the doorway. He didn't if it was because of the alcohol making him dizzy or the fact that Enzo's words felt like a punch in the gut.

"You... you wanna go stay with Corey?" he said softly, "Like... for today?"

Enzo looked down at his almost full bag and gulped. The look on his face told Dean and Roman that he didn't mean just for today.

Dean stared at Roman, his eyes begging him to do somthing. to stop him from leaving. Roman opened his mouth, but he didn't know what to say. The silence went on for a long time, before Roman finallly spoke.

"Please don't." he said quietly, "Please don't go."

"I can't stay with you anymore." Enzo said, his voice blank.

"But.. but why?" Dean all but whispered, the hurt evident in his voice.

Enzo didn't say anything. He just sat on the bed, and kept looking down.

Roman took a deep breath before going further into the room, "Look Enzo, if... if you want to... if you really really want to, we can take you to Corey."

Dean head snapped to Roman, his eyes wide. What the hell was he saying?!

"If you really want to," Roman said again, his face screwing up as if it was physically hurting him to say this, "You two have something going on and... we.. we're gonna support that. We will. So if you really want to, that's cool."

Roman sat down on the bed next to Enzo, Dean still by the door and yelling at him with his eyes to shut the fuck up.

"But we really, really want you to stay with us. Please. If you don't mind Enzo just... just please stay."

Enzo looked up, but as soon as his eyes met Roman's he had to look away again.

"I can't." he said quietly, "I can't stay here."

The silence was back with a vengeance, and Roman stared at Enzo, his face in pain.

"But why?" Dean all but whispered, "Why do you wanna go?"

"I don't _want_ to-"

"Then don't." he walked further into the room, dragging a chair with him and plopping down in front of Enzo and Roman, "Please, don't go."

"We can't just keep moving around the country without you," said Roman, "I mean, are you really gonna leave me alone with Dean and Seth?"

"He's right," nodded Dean, "We're really annoying."

Enzo couldn't help but let out a little chuckle, even though laughing was the last thing he felt like doing at the moment, "Don't... don't so that," he begged them, "You don't gotta do that anymore. Now you know it all so you don't have to do that anymore."

Dean and Roman frowned at each other, "What are you talking about?"

Enzo bit his lip, "Last night, Cass said that-"

"Nothing Cass said last night is true," Roman assurred, "He's full of shit."

"So much shit," agreed Dean.

"Then why didn't you tell me?" Enzo finally looked up, "Why didn't you tell me that you knew that I..." he cleared his throat, "Why didn't you say anything?"

Dean and Roman looked at each other again, before looking back at Enzo.

"What Cass told me," started Roman, "Wasn't his secret to tell. We figured that you'd be the one to tell us when you felt that you trusted us enough."

"And you never said anything so we just figured you still didn't trust us," said Dean, "Which, you know, still kinda stings."

"But we get it," Roman tried to speak over Dean, "and that's why we kept our mouths shut. We wanted _you_ to tell us. When you were ready. _If_ you were ever ready."

"And what if I never got ready?"

"We'd keep waiting." Roman said immediately.

Enzo blinked up at Roman, and then his gaze turned to Dean. Their eyes were sad. Sad for Enzo, or sad because of Enzo, he didn't really know. But sad.

Enzo shook his head, swallowing the ever present lump in his throat.

"You guys were happy." he said suddenly, "You were so happy. You had it made. Your life was good, and happy and perfect and then I came along and ruined it."

"Enzo what are you talking about?" Roman asked.

"You don't sleep anymore. Because you don't want me to have to stay up alone. You don't get time to yourselves because I'm always there. You're always watching, waiting for me to have a bad day or a bad night so you can get me out of whatever stupid slump I'm in. You're getting into shit at work because you keep trying to protect me or something." he shook his head, swallowing again, "You guys were happy, and I ruined you."

"Enzo-"

"No, Dean, it's true. You know it is. You'll try and make me think it isn't because you guys are so damn good. but it's true an you know it."

He sniffed again, and then felt hand around his shoulder as Roman pulled him close. Enzo closed his eyes, praying that he didn't start crying again.

"And now you're here, drunk in the morning of SummerSlam because you were waiting for me to wake up so we could talk about my suicidal tenancies. I'm ruining you. And I can't keep doing that."

"Enzo you're not-"

"No don't." he stopped Roman, "You know that what I'm saying is true. You know it. Last night, the guy who used to be my best friend told me that no one in the world will ever give a damn about me. That nobody would evr want me around. Basically he said that I should just go die. He was my brother. Cass was my brother, and now he hates me because I ruined him." Enzo looked up at Dean and Roman, the unshed tears making his blue eyes shine, "And now I'm ruining you. So how the hell am I supposed to talk to you about all the times I tried to kill myself? You'll end up hating me too, I know it. And If you guys were to end up hating me..." he voice broke as he shook his head, letting it fall onto Roman's shoulder, "I couldn't handle it. I wouldn't make it. So I just can't stay here anymore."

Dean and Roman stayed silent after that, not knowing how to answer, and the alcohol in their systems still muddling their brains.

"I've been ruining Roman for about seven years." said Dean suddenly.

Both Enzo and Roman turned to look at him with frowns. Dean just nodded.

"Yeah, it's true. Before he met me he was married and happy and living the perfect apple pie, white picket fence, American dream kinda life."

Roman blinked, "Dean-"

"No no, it's true you were. And then I showed up. Some white trash trailer park idiot. I'd already convinced myself that I'd live and die alone, you know? When I joined the WWE I'd just come out of rehab. I only went into rehab because my mom had died from a cocaine overdose and I was fast on my way to follow her. My dad had just into jail for international drug dealing. And I had a tendency to get into fights with big groups of people who were much bigger than me in hopes that one would hit my head a little too hard and kill me." Enzo's eyes widened as Dean told his story nonchalantly, and Roman stared in wonder as he told it. Nobody knew about this except for Roman and Seth. And now Enzo.

"I barged into his perfect life and I ruined the fuck out of him," said Dean, "And he doesn't hate me. Hell he kinda ruined me too," he shrugged again, "I mean, I'm like a functioning member of society," he shook his head "Me. Dean Ambrose. Who woulda thought? I go to ballet recitals and play dress up and eat actual home baked pie and I use pet names I call Roman's mother mom and sometimes his daughter calls me Daddy. I mean, my reputation is fucked."

Dean was proud when he saw a bit of a smile on Enzo's face, and he smiled back when he saw the grin on Roman's.

"We ruined each other a fuck load. And here we are, totally not hating each other."

Roman squeezed Enzo's shoulder a bit as the man wiped at his eyes.

"People ruin each other, Enzo." he said softly, "They change each other, that's true. A lot has changed in our lives since you came along, but we wouldn't want it any other way. At all. And nothing would make us hate you. And I know you're gonna tell me that you've heard all that before, but not from us. So you're just gonna have to believe us, okay? Believe that we're different. Because we're not gonna let you go without a fight."

"Seriously," Dean nodded, "We'll fight whoever. Just... just not right now please. That whiskey's really starting to hit me."

Enzo chuckled, "You're not gonna have to fight anybody," he said softly.

Roman nodded, "Great. So... does that mean we can unpack your bag?"

Enzo smiled, "Yeah, I should probably get to that."

Roman grinned, "Great." he stood up, but then sat back down with a grunt a second after.

"Okay. Maybe we could do that later. I'm... I'm starting to feel it too."

Enzo chuckled again, "You two should probably get some sleep. We've still got a big night."

Dean nodded, "Sleep. Sleep is a good idea. We should... we should do that."

Enzo expected them to get up and go across to their room, but Roman just dropped back on Enzo's bed, throwing an arm over his eyes. Enzo stood up to make space, and Dean crawled from the chair onto the bed, dropping half on top of Roman.

Roman groaned shoving at him weakly, "No no, get off, Im'ma throw up on you."

Dean sniffed at him, "You're mean," he moaned as he rolled off.

Enzo watched them moan at each other for a few minutes, and then they were out, fast asleep and snoring.

Enzo grabbed a blanket from the cupboard and draped it over them, He sat down in the chair that Dean had been sitting in, and watched them.

How did they keep doing this?

How did they keep making him feel like this?

He had woken up determined that this was it. That he was leaving. He'd stay with Corey for a few days and finally get out of Dean and Roman's hair. He knew they'd try to stop him, so he was gonna try and sneak out, but then Seth barged in and then ran to tell on him.

And now here he was, once again reassured by these damn men who somehow always managed to change his mind set from absolute shit to... to this.

To sitting on the edge of the bed and smiling as they slept in his bed. Despite Roman's protests of Dean sleeping on him, he rolled over, settling his head on Dean's chest. Dean mumbled something illegible and draped an arm over Roman, and they settled back into sleep.

Enzo couldn't look away. He wished he could have told them, Told them the other reason he wanted to leave. The fact that his feeling were getting stronger. And they were making it worse.

"He loved them right now more than he thought was possible, and they were just making it worse. Every single thing they did made him fall in love with them more and more, and Enzo had no idea how he could even begin to try and get over them. So he hoped being away from them might help, but looking at them now, Enzo knew that that was no solution.

As much as it hurt not having them, he knew that being away from them would be even worse. It was pathetic that he would rather torture himself daily rather than have to spent any time away from these two.

He was pathetic.

And right now, Enzo didn't care.

It's then that he felt a presence behind him, and he knew that he was no longer alone.

"I know, I'm staring." he said quietly, "Sue me."

There was no point hiding it from these two now anyway, but rather than the teasing he was anticipating, Jey sighed softly.

"Are you okay?"

Enzo just swallowed and nodded.

They didn't believe him.

"You're allowed to not be okay, you know." said Jimmy, "After what happened last night, you're allowed to not be okay."

Enzo just sighed a little, "You heard that, huh."

"Yeah well," Jey shrugged, "Cass is pretty loud. And we were also kinda eavesdropping."

Enzo couldn't help but let out a snort.

"That why you have you bags all packed?" Jimmy raised an eyebrow, "Cause of what Cass said?"

Enzo just sighed again.

"You know if you leave, we'll just drag you back by the hair."

Enzo chuckled and shook his head, "I'm not leaving. I'm fine. Really, I'll be fine."

his gaze returned to Dean and Roman, and for once, he knew that he meant it, "I'll be fine."

The twins just watched him, and then glanced at each other, once again, conversing with their eyes.

Enzo sighed, wondering what they were telling each other, "I"m gonna take a shower," he finally said, getting up and leaving the room. the twins watched him go, and just before he went into the bathroom door, Jimmy stopped him.

"Amore." Enzo turned to him, "They love you. Roman and Dean, they really love you."

Enzo just stood there for a while, taking the words in. He closed his eyes, and for a second, he let himself believe that they were saying it the way he wanted to to mean it.

And then the second passed.

Enzo opened his eyes again and smiled at the twins, before going into the bathroom and shutting the door behind him.

Jey turned to Jimmy with a sigh, "You probably shoulda been more specific about what you meant by 'love'," he said.

Jimmy just smiled, "Don't worry, brother. He'll get it eventually. I know he will."


	31. Broken Balls

Kurt Angle and Daniel Bryan stood in the cafeteria in front of both their rosters, glaring daggers at each and every single one of them.

It was the night of SummerSlam, and almost every single Superstar from Raw and Smackdown alike, looked like shit. Some tried to lie and say they were sick, but the general managers knew hangovers when they saw them.

"We have been preparing for this night for weeks," said Kurt, in a gravely voice, "The fans have been waiting for weeks to come here and see their heroes in action. So imagine my surprise, when all these so called heroes show up half drunk!"

Everyone was looking everywhere except at the two livid men in front of them. Mainly because they didn't want to be spotted out, but also because i f they focused on one thing for too long thy would probably puke.

"I want to know who's responsible for this," said Kurt, "Because I know for a fact that there's no way you all individually decided to get drunk on the night before Summerslam."

Almost immediately, a voice spoke up, "It was them," he said, pointing, "They had a party and got us all drunk. It's their fault."

Eyes glared at the smirking face of Baron, and Jimmy could be heard growling, "Snitches get stitches Corbin."

Kurt glared at the table in the middle of the cafeteria. Honestly he wasn't surprised. The round table sat the Usos, with Roman, Dean, Enzo and Seth.

They all looked like absolute shit. Even from this far, Kurt could tell that they were oozing alcohol from their very pores. In fact ... was Dean sleeping?

"Ambrose, wake up!" snapped Kurt. Dean jerked his head off the table, causing Enzo to yelp in surprise and slip off his chair. He scrambled back up, his face a mask of innocence, as if he was hoping that no one had seen.

Kurt wanted to cry.

"Why is it always mine," he muttered to himself, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Roman Reigns raised his hand, "In our defense-"

"No!" yelled Kurt, "There is no defense! Who in their right mind would throw a goddamned party the night before goddamned SummerSlam? What the hell is wrong with you people?! I thought we were all adults here, but clearly, I was wrong! I have half a mind to cancel this entire thing because of you! Do you have any idea-"

"Kurt, Kurt," Daniel lay a hand on Kurt's shoulder, "Come on man, take a breather, okay? You're so red right now, you're gonna give yourself an aneurysm,"

Kurt, still breathing heavily, and still very red in the face, stepped back, and Daniel cleared his throat, "Alright, now as Kurt as mentioned, we are very disappointed in all of you. And also, I am very disappointed that there was a party, and I wasn't invited." He looked at the Usos, "It kinda stings guys, just saying."

"Daniel!"

"Right, sorry," Daniel nodded at Kurt, "What I was saying is, it's not okay to get wasted the night before such a huge night. I swear if anything goes wrong tonight, you will all be in a lot of trouble."

"Daniel, are you really trying to be intimidating right now?" Nikki Bella narrowed her eyes at him, getting snickers all around.

"Nikki," Daniel glared, "I'm your boss right now, okay?"

"Yeah yeah, right," she nodded, "Sure, keep going, you got this."

Daniel just kept glaring, "You see, now I lost my speech, thanks a lot, sis."

"Okay now that we're done, can we get back to SummerSlam? I got some ass to kick and I need to hit the gym." she grabbed John's hand and pulled him out of the cafeteria, which got everyone going, and the room scattered.

Daniel stuck a tongue in his cheek, "How come they listen to her and not me?"

"Maybe I should have kept talking," sighed Kurt as he left the room.

:::

Corey sauntered back to his dressing room, away from the stupid meeting in the cafeteria. He had wanted to assure Angle that he had nothing to do with the party, but it didn't help that he looked just as bad as the rest of his colleagues, due to his own lack of sleep. After dropping off Enzo with his... with Ambrose and Reigns, he had gone back to bed and just lay there, trying not to imagine Enzo half dead in a hospital bed, bleeding and having his stomach pumped.

He still hadn't managed to stop thinking about it.

He wondered if he'd told Dean and Roman, but deep down, Corey knew that he wouldn't. There was no way Enzo would tell them the details. Not them.

It was as if the idiot was trying to protect their precious little minds from having to think about it. Hell, Corey kinda wished Enzo hadn't told _him_ either, because he didn't want to think about this anymore.

It didn't help that he couldn't stop staring at Enzo either. But staring at Enzo also meant staring at _them_ , because they were always there. They refused to leave Enzo's side, and frankly, it was annoying. It's like they thought he'd disappear or something. And the way they looked at him...

Corey knew now for a fact now that Ambrose and Reigns wanted Enzo the same way he wanted them.

Nobody looked at someone like that unless they loved them.

Fucking hell, they _loved_ him.

It was a good thing, right? It meant that Enzo was going to get what he wanted. Corey was supposed to be happy for his... friend. He was supposed to be happy for him, but instead, he wanted to throw up.

Corey rubbed a hand over his face with a sigh as he reached his door. He went inside, ready to sit and sulk in his chair until it was time for the show to start.

But his chair wasn't empty.

"Who the fuck are you?"

The chair swiveled around to reveal a girl.

"Corey!" she grinned, jumping up, "I've been waiting for ages!"

Corey frowned at the intruder. Her hair was a bushy mess, held back by a red headband that read 'Fearless'. She had on a very old looking "Shield' T shirt, that was from about 4 years ago, and over that, a baggy vest that rad 'Certified G' in leopard print letters. She had about 4 very colorful bands around her arms, two of which had 'Hustle Loyalty Respect', and the others with 'Day One Ish.

Her Fashion sense was so terrible, it was like she was related to...

"Leah?" Corey frowned.

"Yes! It's me!" She skipped towards him, and then threw her arms around him in a hug that he was too dazed to even return.

"What the... what are you doing here? You aren't even allowed back here. How the hell did you find my dressing room?"

"Well, it has your name on the door," she shrugged, as if that's there was to it, "Besides, I have VIP access, see?" she held up the tag around her neck, "And I wanted to actually meet you! I like to make it a point to actually meet my friends, you know?" she grinned at him again, and then went back to his chair.

 _His_ chair.

"This is a nice set up, Graves," she swivelled in her chair, looking around, "You must be a big deal."

Corey blinked, still not quite understanding how the hell this girl had managed to weasel her way in here.

"Are you sure you two aren't related," he mumble to himself with a sigh.

Leah laughed, "Well, who knows. You know, besides the fact that Enzo's Italian and I'm from Madagascar."

"You're from a wild jungle island. Well, makes sense now."

"Ha ha, you're hilarious." Leah rolled her eyes, But you didn't call me here to talk about me-"

"I did not call you here."

"W'e're here to talk about you!" she continued as if he hadn't spoken, "Something tells me it's been a long week."

Corey sighed, finally moving from the front of the door and going to his couch. he should have already kicked her out of his chair, and out of his dressing room, but instead, he found himself shrugging.

"More like a long night."

"What happened? Oh, did you go to the Uso party? Enzo said he'd tell me how it went but I haven't seen him yet."

"I didn't go to the Uso party. I spent most of the night letting your brother steal booze from my mini bar."

Leah tilted her head, "What? Why was Enzo in your hotel room during the party?"

"He left early," said Corey, "Decided he didn't really want to be around Ambrose and Reigns knowing that they know his biggest secret."

"His... his biggest ssecret?" Leah asked slowly.

Corey nodded. He didn't even know why he was talking so much about this. After all, he was kinda trying to forget it.

"Yeah, that secret."

"You know about that?" blinked Leah, "Wait, Dean and Roman know about that? Enzo actually told them?"

Corey shook his head, "Cass did. some last ditch attempt to ruin Enzo's life apparently.

All the mirth was gone from Leah's eyes, and she sat up straight, "He did what?"

Corey nodded, "Yep."

Leah was silent for a long time. Corey was surprised that she knew how to be silent.

"Is Enzo okay?" she asked softly.

Corey rubbed a hand over his face, "He's with Dean and Roman now so... I guess so. He's always okay with those two." Corey tried to ignore how bitter he sounded.

Leah didn't.

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

Corey tried to look anywhere but at her. Which was strange, because he'd just met this girl, so why the hell would he care if she saw how sad he looked at that.

But apparently, this girl that he'd just met was far too observant.

"Oh." she said with wide eyes, "Oh, Corey. You... you're... _oh_."

"Shut up," he shook his head, "Besides, I don't even know what you're saying. And either way, it doesn't matter what you're saying, because Enzo's in love with Dean and Roman anyway so.." he shrugged, finishing the sentence, and still not looking at her.

If he had been looking, he would have noticed that her eyes doubled in size as she stared.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Corey's yes snapped to her and he blinked,"You didn't know about that?"

Leah rose up, fuming, "I'm sorry, _what_?"

Before anything else could be said, Corey's door opened again, and in walked Enzo.

"Hey, I was just... Leah?"

Enzo blinked at his sister in Corey's room. He almost smiled, holding up his arms for a hug, but then he saw her face.

"What happened?"

Corey had the decency to look sheepish, and he sat back on the couch, wanting to stay out of this.

"Oh, hello Enzo!" Leah said, in a fake cheerful voice, "So nice to see you bro. Really we need to catch up."

The venom in her voice, almost made Enzo back out of the room, "Uh, Leah-"

"I've had quite an eventful few weeks since I last saw you. Let's see, what did I do? I almost got suspended for fighting on campus. Yeah, Mama kicked my ass for that. Oh, I almost got a cat, but turns out I'm terrified of cats, so that was shot. I found a 70 foot tree that's perfect to climb. Let's see, what else? Oh, I got a bikini wax the other day-"

"Leah!"

"What about you Enzo?" she asked, advancing on him, "Anything new? Anything you'd like to share?" her voice was quite shrill by the time she reached Enzo, who was looking quite frightened. He looked to Corey for help, but he just shrugged apologetically.

Enzo gasped, "You told her?"

"I though she knew."

"Yeah Enzo, he thought I knew!" she shrieked, "Because usually you tell your sister when you fucking fall in love! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because of this!" Enzo yelled back, "You're screaming at me!"

"Well that's because you didn't tell me!" she stomped her foot, "How can you not tell me that you're fucking _in_ _love_ with-"

At that, Enzo slapped a hand over her mouth and slammed the door shut behind him.

"Could you not scream that out!" he hissed, "It's kinda supposed to be a secret!"

Leah kept yelling, her words muffled by his hand, but still obviously very angry.

Corey cleared his throat behind them, uncrossing his legs and standing up, "Okay, I'm gonna go. You two stay here and... finish this up."

Enzo looked at him, horrified, "Don't leave me with her!"

"Okay bye!" he waved as he slipped out,leaving the siblings to strangle each other.

Corey sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. Well now where was he going to sit to sulk a bit?

As he turned a corner, he felt something run into his legs and squeak.

Corey frowned and looked down, right at a little girl.

What the hell was it with him finding little girls tonight?

The girl blinked big brown eyes up at Corey. She was wearing one of those insufferable Enzo wigs on her head. And was wearing a Shield Shirt not unlike the one Leah had.

Did Amore have another Foster Sister he didn't mention?

"Hello." he said slowly at the child.

She blinked up again, "I lost my Momma," she said with a sniff, "I was making her play catch, and now I lost her."

Corey looked around the hallway, and was horrified to see that he was the only one around.

"Um... does your mom work here?"

The kid shook her head, "No, but my Daddys do. See?"

She stretched out her shirt for Corey to see the faces on it. She pointed at Dean and Roman.

Corey almost groaned, "You must be Jojo."

The little girl grinned, "Yeah! Yeah I'm Jojo."

He sighed, "Okay. Okay, let's go find your parents Jojo."

She smiled at him, and then to Corey's horror, she lifted her arms. He looked at her for a long time, but she kept flexing her hands, and waiting.

"Um..." he blinked, "Uh..."

She still just smiled up at him, waiting. This was the most patient kid he'd ever seen. He really wanted to walk away. Like, really. But with a huge sigh, Corey put his hands under her arms and lifted Jojo Reigns up. She squealed in his ear as he did.

"Thanks Corey!" she grinned.

"How do you know who I am?" he sighed as he started walking.

"Becasue you're gonna be my Daddy's ref'ee tonight!"

"Oh right. That."

"I'm sorry he pushed you last week," she said, sweetly, her arms around his neck, "It was a accident."

Corey rolled his eyes, "Right."

"It was!" she insisted, "Daddy doesn't push people. Unless they like Dean," Jojo giggled, "This one time, Momma kissed Dean to make Daddy mad and he didn't talk to her for a whole day!"

"Oh, that's-"

"Oh and this other time-"

The walk to the cafeteria was the longest in Corey's life, because damn, did Jojo Reigns like to talk. It was hard to see if she even took breaths in between. Luckily though, Corey wasn't expected to answer any of her ramblings because, well, she never stopped talking.

As she was explaining about the time she 'accidentally' pushed someone called Molly Carson into the pool when she tried to play with her special toy pony, Corey finally made it to the cafeteria where Dean Ambrose seemed to be comforting a frantic woman, while Roman Reigns was pacing, yelling into his cellphone.

"Momma!" yelled Jojo, causing the room to turn to Corey.

The woman almost collapsed with relief and ran over to them, "Joanne you scared the hell out of me!" she groaned, "Where in the hell have you been young lady, you have got a lot of explaining to do."

Corey was now surrounded by all of Jojo's parents, and he wanted to put her down, but the little girl was still clinging around his neck.

"It's okay Momma, Corey found me. We were talking."

Corey couldn't help but scoff.

" _You_ were talking." he said. He turned to her mother, "She talks a lot."

Gina nodded, "Don't I know it." She finally took Jojo from Corey's arms.

Roman watched the scene, blinking. When he locked eyes with Corey, he suddenly remembered that he was on the phone.'

"Oh, never mind, yeah we got her."

 _"You found her?_ " Enzo's voice asked frantically.

"Yeah. Well... well, Corey found her actually."

 _Corey?_ " Enzo asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, we're here in the cafeteria."

Roman, Dean and Seth had been sitting in the cafeteria recovering, when someone was suddenly running up to them.

"Have you seen her? Has she been here?" she asked frantically.

"Gina?" Dean asked, "What are-"

"Have you seen Jojo?" she yelled again, "She ran ahead of me to find you and now I can't find her!"

They all leapt up, and promptly started panicking. It only lasted a minute though, because it's then that Corey Graves of all fucking people walked in carrying Roman's daughter.

This... this wasn't fair. He hated the guy. He really did.

But how the fuck was he supposed to hate him right now when he had found their fucking daughter? One look at Dean, and Roman knew that he was thinking the same thing.

"Th... thanks." Dean said, clearing his throat. He was standing behind Gina, who was fussing over an annoyed Jojo, making sure she wasn't hurt, "We were kinda panicking a bit."

Corey shrugged, "She ran into me."

Dean nodded again, "Yeah she tends to do that."

Corey nodded, wanting out of this awkward situation. He turned around, about to leave, but then the door opened again, and Enzo and Leah walked through.

They had obviously been running.

"Enzo!" Jojo grinned, "Look at me, I came to SummerSlam!"

"You got lost?" Enzo huffed at her.

"Yeah," she shrugged bashfully, "But it's not my fault. Momma said I get my d'rection skills from Dean."

"Haha. that's funny kid," Dean ruffled her hair, "For your information, I haven't even gotten lost yet today."

"'Yet', being the operative word," chuckled Roman as he picked Jojo up, "And you, if you get lost in this Arena again, some weirdo might pick you up. We got a whole lotta weirdos around here."

"I thought you said Enzo was the biggest weirdo," Jojo tilted her head.

"Hey!" Enzo glared at Roman, who shrugged with a grin, "Well, it's not like I'm wrong."

Everyone around muttered their agreements and Enzo glared, "Ya'll suck."

Corey watched the scene from a short way away. He'd been here the whole time, and Enzo hardly even noticed he was there. One look at his these guys... at his family, and he completley lit up.

He'd seen Enzo light up with him, but not like this.

Corey swallowed, and turned around, walking out of the cafeteria and letting the family be.

"Oh right, Gina, this is Leah." Enzo gestured to his sister as they all fussed over Jojo, "Leah, this is Gina and Jojo, remember I told you about 'em?"

"Hi!" Leah grinned.

"Leah!" grinned Jojo, "Enzo told me all about you. I put you in my family tree, did you hear did you hear?"

Leah's grin was face splitting, "You bet I did," she brushed her hair back in Roman's arms, "That's why I told Enzo you're my favorite."

Jojo gasped, "Even more than Daddy and Dean?"

Leah smirked, "Of course! They're just boys, and I already have a dumb big brother."

"Now you can have a dumb little sister!" Jojo giggled.

Leah laughed, and Enzo snickered, "Did she just call herself dumb?"

"Well you gonna disagree?" Dean muttered. He was rewarded with a slap to the back of the head from Gina. He glared at he as he rubbed it.

Jojo and Leah were already chatting animatedly, even though she was still in Roman's arms.

"Okay, Enzo already stole my daughter, you can't do it too, Mayne!" he all but held Jojo away from her.

Leah laughed, "Too late, she loves me."

Dean rolled his eyes, "Wait, how the hell did you even get in here? Fans aren't allowed at the back."

"I got VIP." she held up her tag."

"Yeah..." Roman said slowly, "That don't mean you can come to the back. How'd security let you in?"

Leah looked around, "They.. uh... they didn't. They don't really know I'm back here."

"You snuck in?" grinned Dean, "Nice."

Leah smirked, slapping the hand he held out.

"Really?" Gina scoffed, "Condoning trespassing, Dean?"

"I didn't tresspass," Jojo raised her hadn, deciding that she wanted the attention back, "I came in with Mama! I annoyed her so much she couldn't say no."

"Ain't that the truth," Gina sighed "Your daughter is a con artist, I hope you know that."

"You can blame Dean," Roman said immediately.

Dean grinned, "You're welcome."

"Look, I got a ticket and everything!" Jojo held it up.

"You mean you're here _legally_?" Dean shook his head in mock disappointment, "I taught you to pick a lock for a reason you know."

Jojo looked down, "I promise, next time I'll just sneak in like Leah."

"There's my girl," Dean grinned, holding out a fist for him to bump.

Gina glared at him, "Ambrose, I swear one day I'm going to kill you."

"Nah you love me too much," Dean threw an arm over her, and Gina scoffed, but didn't shrug him off. It's then that she noticed a man standing a little away from the group.

He was watching them, but looked wary to approach.

As he should.

"Rollins." Gina said icily.

Seth licked his lips as he made his way slowly over, "Gina. Uh... hi."

She just kept glaring at him, but before she could even start yelling at him. Jojo stepped in.

"Seth?"

Seth looked at the little girl in Roman's arms. He couldn't help but smile, "You got so big, Jojo."

Jojo scrambled out of Roman's arms and went to stand in front of Seth, her little arms crossed.

"You were gone for a long time," she glared.

Seth hunched down so they were eye level, "Yeah I was, kid."

"Are you gonna go again if you and Dean don't win?" she asked, blinking big brown eyes.

Seth sighed softly, taking Jojo's hands in his.

"I'm never going anywhere ever again." he said quietly.

"Promise?" Jojo sniffed.

"I extra promise," Seth said. He even held out his pinky.

Jojo grinned immediately, locking their pinky's and then she threw her arms around his neck

Seth hadn't quite felt the weight of being forgiven until he had little Jojo in his arms again.

He stood up, taking Jojo with him with a small smile on his face.

Leah sniffed as she watched the scene, "That was beautiful." she sighed.

"Oh god," Gina rolled her eyes, "This is forgive and forget bull is making me sick."

She took Jojo from her arms and stuck her nose up at him, "You're gonna need at least another year before we're ever good, Rollins." She turned to the others, "And ya'll, we're going to our seats, Have a good night, and try not to lose, alright?"

"Your encouraging words warm my heart Gina, really." Dean sighed sarcastically, putting a hand on her chest.

Gina rolled her eyes, "You're very welcome Dean." She walked away, and Jojo waved behind her, "Bye bye! See you in the ring! I'll scream the loudest ever!"

"Yeah, we believe you baby," Roman grinned.

"See you out there!" said Enzo.

"Make sure to throw your popcorn at the announcers heads alright!"

"Dean!" Gina yelled with a groan.

Dean grinned at her yell and at Jojo's giggle. They were about to be out when Gina turned around.

"Leah, you coming?"

Leah beamed at being called by Gina Reigns. She bounded after them happily, waving her goodbye at the boys.

"Ya'll better win!" they heard her yell.

Enzo shrugged at the others, "No pressure or nothin'," he muttered.

"Yeah, we should hit the gym," Roman nodded.

:::

On their way to their seats, Leah took it upon herself to tell Gina and Jojo all about herself. Seeing as she had now declared herself their new best friends.

Gina was horrified to find that she'd finally found someone who talked just as much as her daughter. It made perfect sense that she was Enzo's sister. Foster, yeah, but sister all the same.

Seeing these two made her really eager to meet Mama.

Leah was talking about her awful professors back at Princeton and explaining to Jojo what a 'douchwad' was, when they turned a corner, and Leah ran into someone's stomach.

Only one person had a stomach so high up.

The three girls looked up, necks straining.

Big Cass rolled his eyes, "Leah. Of course you're here. Illegally, I'll bet."

Leah's cheery attitude had disappeared, and she was snarling at the seven footer.

Surprisingly, the glare to match hers was Jojo's.

"Cass," she snarled, scrunching up her little face, "You're the meanest."

Cass blinked at the little girl and her mother.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Don't say a bad word in front of her," Leah snarled.

"Yeah Big Cass, that's a bad word. Every time Enzo says a bad word he gives me money," Jojo said.

"Wait, what?" Gina blinked at her.

"Not the time," Leah nudged her.

"how come you were mean to Enzo?" Jojo said, still glaring at Cass, "He's the best friend ever! He gives me money, and he gives me hugs, and he eats all my carrots 'cause they're gross, and he's said he'd be my new best friend, and he plays Snow White and he would never ever be mean like you!"

Gina blinked at her daughter, surprised at her anger.

Gina smirked, "Yeah. What she said."

Jojo nodded kurtly, her arms still crossed, and then stomped past Cass, but not before stomping as hard as she could on his foot. She ran past him, a smirking Gina following her. She looked back at Leah who shook her head.

"I'll catch up with you guys. I wanna talk to... him."

Gina nodded before quickly following after Leah before she got lost again.

Leah looked up at Cass as he scoffed after Jojo and Gina, "Who the hell are they?"

Leah just blinked at him. This was her first time seeing Cass in a long time. The last time, they had all been at Sid Lake, and he had been trying to throw her into the water while she shrieked bloody murder.

They had been laughing. As friends. They had been friends, and now...

"It's been a long time, Leah" said Cass, "You gonna stomp on my foot like Mini-You over there?"

Leah just glared, "Long time," she agreed, "But not long enough," she said through gritted teeth.

Cass sighed, "You know I'm still cool with you. It's just your brother I don't want anything to do with."

Leah clenched her fists. Did he really just say that to her?

"I oughta punch you," she said quietly.

Cass snickered, "You can't even reach my face."

She raised an eyebrow, "I ain't talking about your face."

Before Cass could even wonder what that meant. A small fist hit him. Straight in the nuts.

He gasped in pain, his hands covering himself, and he fell to his knee.

Now that they were eye level, Leah glared down at him.

"You're going to regret it." she said quietly. Cass would have scoffed if he hadn't been in so much pain.

"Enzo's the best friend you could have ever had. You heard Jojo. Fucking up something that good is the dumbest thing you could have done, Cassady. And one day, you're gonna regret it."

"You fucking bitch," he hissed.

Leah just shrugged, "Takes one to know one. Now, this fucking bitch is gonna go find her seat. I'll be in the front row, in Enzo's corner. Cheering him on along with a whole lot of other people who know exactly how lucky they are to have Enzo in their lives. Now tell me Cass. Who'll be in your corner?"

She spared him one more sad glance before walking around him towards Gina. And yes, before she passed, she did stomp on Cass's foot, and she was glad to find that it hurt a lot more than when Jojo did it.

Leah turned the corner with a smile, leaving the cursing Cassady on his knees behind her.

:::

 **Hiy Guuuuys.**

 **It's me again.**

 **It's a late Chapter and I'm sorry. I know I say this every time but the next one will come a lot sooner.**

 **And this time I mean it!**

 **Let me know what you think :) Please and Thank You.**

 **Ok bye!**

 **Oh, and one more thing, I know you guys are really anxious for teh drama bits, and I know no one likes filler chapters, but they're also essential to the story, so please, bare with me for making you wait.**

 **Thank you!**

 **Oh, one last thing! I love your reviews and your private messages, I really do.**

 **They're really helping me along with this story and how everything is unraveling, even though I get that for some of you it's painfully slow.**

 **And I get that everyone has their opinions and ideas of how this story should go and how it should end and stuff. And I value and listen to your feedback.**

 **BUT! (and that's a big 'BUT')**

 **Could ya'll please not be dicks about it?**

 **Most of you are awesome, but some people kinda take the whole 'freedom of expression' thing too far, I think.**

 **I mean, it's not that inspiring getting messages like:**

 **"Bitch you'd better fucking end this story like ( _insert opinion here_ )! I don't want to have wasted my time reading your shit if you're gonna do it wrong."**

 **or**

 **"If you're gonna write a Wrestling fic, do it right. this is crap wtf."**

 **or even**

 **"You sick bitch, what the hell is wrong with you people and your gross slash fiction. Fucking stop it!"**

 **And that's just to name a few.**

 **Your opinions matter, but be nice. Even bitches like me have feelings.**

 **Okay thank you.**

 **And also, I love you.**

 **:) :) :)**

 **-Leeh**


	32. Broken Bodies

The match line up was up on all the backstage screens.

First The Usos would go against The New Day. And then Naomi would take on Natalya. And then Dean and Seth against the Bar. And then Roman would fight Samoa Joe, with Corey Graves as the referee.

And then Enzo would fight Cass.

It was going to be a long night. And Enzo couldn't wait.

Leah, Gina and Jojo had gone to take their front row seats for the show, while Corey went to the announcers table.

The rest of them made their way to the best seats backstage.

The screen room closest to the ring was always the best place for the Superstars to watch. When they got there, it was already polluted by some of the NXT Roster, but after a few choice words and growls from Dean, they scattered, and they made themselves comfortable.

Roman, Dean, Enzo, Seth, The Usos and Naomi settled in for the show.

The Usos were the first to leave for their match.

Most of it was spent with held breaths by the others, as the grueling match went back and forth for much longer than was healthy.

By the end of it, Jimmy and Jey were in the middle of the ring, half standing, half kneeling, holding onto each other, and the SmackDown Tag Team titles raised above their heads.

The cheers in the screen room were deafening, and by the time the twins were back, brandishing their Titles, everyone was in high spirits.

A few matches later, Naomi went on to defend her Title.

The room was silent when at the end of the match, Naomi lay defeated on the floor while Natalya held up the SmackDown Woman's Title.

As soon as the match was over, Jimmy was out of the room and ready to comfort his wife. When they came back, her tears were gone and she was wrapped in everyone's hugs.

The show went on.

And then, it was time for the Raw Tag Team Title match.

Seth and Dean walked to the Gorilla, having left a very tense Roman and a frazzled Enzo back in the room.

"I can't wait to win this," Dean grinned.

Seth nodded, but gulped as they waited by the Gorilla, "Dean, if we don't win."

"We will," he scoffed.

Seth nodded. But he was worried. Would he still be a part of them if this didn't go to plan? "But if we don't..." he gulped, "Will we still... I mean, will you guys still... am I still gonna be-"

"Dude," Dean turned to him, knowing what he was thinking, "If we lose, which we won't, and you even think about leaving us again, I will personally murder you. Or worse, I'll sic Gina on you. Got it?"

The threat, or promise, depending on how well you knew Dean Ambrose, is what finally made Seth grin. Win or lose, they'd still be team. This time, forever.

Back in the screen room, the rambunctious audience was quiet. Most of all, Roman Reigns.

Seth and Dean were going to be competing a a team for the first time in years.

Years.

They were going to be a team, and the fact had Roman staring at the screen, stiff and unblinking.

Next to him, Enzo kept rubbing his back, knowing that there was no point of saying anything at all.

Roman didn't move for the entire match. Hard blows were exchanged between The Bar and The Shield. And the Arena, and the room, winced and cheers and oohed and aahed all the while. But Roman didn't move.

Enzo wondered if he was breathing.

And then the match ended, and Roman took in a shuddering breath, as Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins stood in the middle of the ring, their arms around each other, and brandishing their newly won Championships.

When Dean held out his fist, Seth stared at it for a long time. It might have just been a symbol to everyone else. Just a sign. But he knew better. He knew that when they came up with this, they had meant for it to mean family. and no one in the world took family as seriously as Dean Ambrose.

And now.. now he was offering his fist to Seth.

Finally, with a sniff, an overwhelmed Seth brought his fist up to Dean's, the Arena was on their feet, and Roman let out a shuddering breath.

Enzo's eyes widened when he saw his face.

"Roman," he said quietly, so no one else heard, "Are you crying?"

Roman gulped, but made no move to wipe his watery eyes, "Shut up," he whispered.

Roman got up quickly and ran to the Gorilla, so as to be the first to hug his Team when they returned as Champions. When Enzo didn't follow, Jey was the first to frown.

"Dude. Go on, celebrate with them!"

Enzo shook his head with a smile, "This is a Shield thing. They should have this moment for themselves, you know."

Jimmy scoffed, "You can't honestly still think that you're not a part of that, right?"

Enzo just shrugged, "Guys, it's a Shield thing. I'm not gonna intrude. They're a family, so I'm gonna stay out of it."

He turned back to the screen, and the Usos glanced at each other with tired eyes,

"I swear," Jey whispered, "If he don't figure this shit out by by tonight Imma hit him between the eyes with a hammer."

Jimmy nodded, "He really is a lot dumber than he looks. And that's saying something."

When the Shield came back to the screen room, Seth and Dean showing off their Titles, they threw themselves tiredly back onto the couches.

Dean threw an arm around Enzo as soon as he sat down, "So how's it feel, being a Champion?"

Enzo blinked. "Huh? I'm not... you guys are the Champions. How bad did you hit your head?"

Seth scoffed, rolling his eyes, "Enzo. It's the Shield. If we win," he gestured to himself and Dean, "It means we all did. That's what Family is, man!" The cheers around the room were loud and deafening, but Enzo just blinked at the Title that Dean had placed on his lap. When he looked up, he caught Jimmy's gaze, who had a 'Told you so' look on his face.

Enzo grinned at him, and then at the Title again.

Yeah. It felt good being Champion.

:::

A little while later, it was time for Roman to have his match. With Corey to ref.

He left the screen room with a chorus of 'good lucks' and 'kick ass' and even a 'don't lose again' from a taunting Jimmy.

After glaring at his cousin, Roman bent over to kiss Dean on the cheek. Before he knew it, he was leaning over to Enzo, but managed to stop himself at the last minute.

Holy shit, he had been about to kiss him...

Luckily, Enzo was too busy stroking Dean's Title, and he missed it. The rest of the room did not.

With a gulp and a reddening face, Roman shuffled out of the room, well aware that everyone was staring at him with wide eyes. He knew he'd get loads of comments later, but right now, he had a match to prepare for.

He stood by the Gorilla, bouncing on the balls of his feet, flexing and unflexing his hands.

He heard someone behind him, and he turned around to see that it was Corey, already dressed in black and white stripes.

The two locked eyes for a few moments, before they both looked away. Corey with an eye roll, and Roman with clenched teeth.

The screen on the Gorilla advertised the next match, with clips from last week's show. Roman and Joe going at it. In and outside the ring, and then at the announcers table.

And then with wide eyes, Roman saw a look flash on his face as he hurled Joe towards Corey.

And then he saw himself push Graves so hard, he landed a few feet away on his back.

It was really strange. Doing something, and then seeing yourself do it on screen, were two very different things. And although to Roman it had been justified at the time, he saw now that he probably shouldn't have done that.

He turned back to Corey, blinked. The man was still glaring at him.

Deep down, he knew that he should apologize. Deep down, he knew. Especially since Graves and Enzo were...

They were togeth...

They were in a relation...

Damn, even thinking it was like a punch to the chest.

But it was obvious that Corey was a part of Enzo's life, and would be fr a long time, so assaulting him whenever Roman felt hurt wasn't exactly going to change that.

No matter how much he wished it would.

With a deep breath and a sigh, Roman steeled himself to... apologize.

"Look Graves," he sighed, "I-"

"Save it."" Corey shook his head.

"I just wanted to say that I'm-"

"I said, save it." Corey snarled, "Apologizing just because your match is in my hands ain't gonna make me go easy on you."

Roman grit his teeth. It was really hard not to hate this guy.

"That's not why-"

" _And this match is scheduled for One Fall!"_ announced Jojo from the ring, " _Introducing first, your special guest referee, Corey Graves!"_

Corey brushed past Roman, effectively ending their conversation.

Roman glared after him. It was his first time talking to Graves without him trying to hurt him, and it only made him dislike him that much more.

Roman's glaring was cut off when someone shoved past him, bumping his shoulder.

Samoa Joe.

Right, that's what this match was about. Joe, not Graves.

Right. Focus Roman.

Back in the screen room, Enzo watched the screen intensely, Dean glaring at it as Roman, Samoa Joe, and Corey Graves stood in the ring.

Enzo sighed when he saw Dean's glare.

"Come on stop worrying, Roman ain't scared of Joe."

Dean scoffed, "I know. It ain't Joe I'm watching."

He rolled his eyes, "Corey's gonna be fair too you know."

"Oh yeah," scoffed Seth, "because Corey Graves is Roman's biggest fan."

Enzo just sighed, "You know, they don't actually hate each other. Why would they?"

Enzo just rolled his eyes, and tuned back to the screen. He didn't notice how everyone glanced around at each other behind his back.

With a huff, Jey opened his mouth, tired of the oblivious idiot in front of them. He was about to tell Enzo exactly why Roman hated Graves, but a hand slapped over his mouth before he could say a word. He glared at Jimmy behind his hand.

"Someone's gotta tell him," he mumbled.

"Yeah okay sure. But right now that match is about to start."

As he said it, the bell rang, and Roman and Joe squared off in the middle of the ring.

It was a pity that Roman's eyes weren't even on his opponent though, and that's how Samoa Joe gained the upper hand so quickly.

And it only went downhill from there.

The pumped up energy in the screen room quickly dwindled down to silent winces as it became obvious that Roman was losing.

Badly.

"I told him not to get distracted!" Seth hissed as Roman was sent headfirst into the steel steps.

"What the hell could he be getting distracted over though?" Enzo asked, genuinely confused.

The room glared at him, and Jey turned to Jimmy, " _Now_ can I tell him?"

Jimmy just shook his head sadly, still wincing at the screen.

A few minutes later, Roman was attempting a Superman punch from outside the ring, but Joe drove straight through him, causing Roman to hit hard onto the apron.

Dean had had enough.

"This is bullshit!" he seethed, jumping up, "We gotta do something, he can't lose!"

"Something like what?" Enzo asked, biting his knuckles.

Dean snapped his head to Enzo, and then his eyes lit up, "Come on," he grabbed Enzo's hand and shot out of the room, half dragging him along.

Once they were gone, Jimmy scoffed, "Well what do they plan to do? Be his cheerleaders?"

Seth grinned leaning back, "Exactly."

"Well why aren't you going then?" Naomi asked him.

"I think this is a job for the boyfriends," shrugged Seth.

:::

Dean and Enzo tore through the arena as fast as they could, the loud voices of the announcers giving them a play by play of Roman's awful match.

"Where are we going?" Enzo panted, trying to keep up with Dean's long legs.

"You remember where the others are sitting?" Dean asked instead while they ran.

"Front Row of Block A." frowned Enzo, "Why-"

Dean burst through a curtain, and Enzo was surprised to see that they came out by the arena audience.

He blinked as Dean scanned the audience, and then pointed.

"There!"

He ran again, dodging unsuspecting fans.

Dean was still holding his hand.

It took a while to finally get to the front, where Gina stood with Leah, and Jojo was sitting down with headphones and an IPad.

Good, she probably shouldn't be seeing this.

"Dean!" Leah saw them first, "Enzo, thank goodness. He is getting his balls ripped out."

Gina glared at her, "Do you have to be so vulgar!"

"She can't hear me," Leah shrugged.

Gina just rolled her eyes and turned to the others.

"I hope you have a plan. He's getting his ass handed it to him out there."

Leah scoffed, "And that's not vulgar?"

"Yeah, we got a plan," Enzo nodded to break up the fight. He looked at Dean, "What's the plan?"

"Dean just leaned over the barricade and turned to the ring, where Roman was fighting Joe off by the steps.

"Let's go Roman!" he yelled.

Roman, recognizing the voice, turned his head, and blinked when he saw Dean and Enzo with Gina and Leah. And his baby daughter peeping over the barricades pretending not to look.

The distraction didn't do him good though, becasue Joe took advantage of the pause and started pounding him again.

Enzo, Gina and Leah glared at Dean, "That's a shitty plan, Ambrose," he glared.

Dean just gave a slight smirk, "Wait for it."

:::

Roman was losing. He knew he was. And he was hating it.

But the thing was, it wasn't his fault. How the hell was he supposed to concentrate on Samoa Joe when Corey Graves was fucking standing _right there!_

Every time he got a hit in, he saw Corey and wondered how many times he had been with Enzo while Roman had been thinking about him.

That thought had gotten him a kick in the face.

And then he couldn't stop thinking about how many time Corey had kissed Enzo while Roman and Dean had been sitting thinking about where he was.

That's when Joe clocked him with an elbow to the face. By the time he got him away, he caught another glimpse of Corey, and he couldn't help but wonder how many times Corey had been able to hold Enzo in bed while he and Dean pined after him.

He couldn't manage to focus on this match for over 10 seconds at a time, and it was killing him.

And then he heard that voice.

He turned his head, and right there stood his family.

His family, that was watching him get beat.

Hell fucking no.

Suddenly, Roman's unadulterated jealousy and envy towards Corey Graves went away, and he turned back to his opponent.

Unfortunately, he turned right into a pounding, but at least this time, he got back up.

Roman's arms went up to defend his face as he struggled to stand up. But he did. He got the fuck up, and he started going at it. And hell, Samoa Joe was damn surprised that he was steadily losing the upper hand.

Back in the audience, Dean grinned like an idiot, "See?" He threw an arm around Enzo, "Now that's our Roman."

:::

Corey was not happy.

He'd been all prepared to make as many unfair calls against Roman as possible, but he didn't have to, because the dude was getting his ass handed to him.

Corey was honestly a bit disappointed. He'd really expected more. And he was sure that this disgust was showing on his face, because every few seconds, Roman would look at him, and then proceed to lose even worse than before. That is, until a voice from the crowd called to him.

Corey looked when Roman did, and he saw them all standing with Leah.

As soon as Roman saw his family...

As soon as he saw Enzo... something flashed in his eyes, and he proceeded to be Roman Reigns again.

All because he saw _them_.

He was in the throes of losing, and one look at Enzo and that insufferable Lunatic, and he got back into it.

Just like that.

What the fuck kinda motivation did one fucking look give? Corey didn't get it, and he didn't like it.

As the match went on, Corey glanced at the crowd again, and Enzo was yelling along with Ambrose and Leah. Jojo had stopped hiding behind the barricade and was in her mothers arms, cheering Roman on as well.

Enzo's face was red from yelling encouragement and chants and... and it was working.

Corey was thinking so much that he'd forgotten to be unfair. Both Roman and Joe's falls were counted fairly. He was surprising himself as much as he was surprising anyone else.

And then, the inevitable happened in a match with a special guest referee.

Roman charged at Joe, getting ready to hit him with a Superman Punch, and then Joe moved out of the way. And of course, Corey was standing right behind him. With wide eyes, Roman tried to stop, but he was already mid air.

He managed to turn his body enough so as to not hit Corey, but the impact was inevitable.

Corey was hit, and he stumbled back, tumbling out of the ring.

Roman blinked at him with wide eyes as he clutched his head outside the ring. Shit.

He looked back at Samoa Joe, who was recovering on the mat, and then back at Corey.

It was a perfect time to capitalize. The perfect time to-

Roman caugtht sight of Enzo by the barricade, looking at Corey worriedly.

"Fuck," he growled at himself as he rolled out of the ring. The crowd roared in confusion, and Roman knelt next to Graves still breathing heavily.

"Dude, you okay?"

Corey glared at Roman, still clutching his head. This was actually pretty perfect. Reigns had attacked a referee. Albeit by accident, but who cared? This was the perfect way to get back at him for having Enzo when he didn't. This was perfect.

"Shit, that really was an accident this time." Roman said again, his hands awkwardly hovering over his head.

With another glare, Corey raised his hand, ready to call for the bell, and end this match, letting Roman lose by disqualification.

But then he caught sight of the barricade and saw Enzo's wide worried eyes looking at them.

Shit. If he called this match unfairly right now, Enzo would be as crushed as Roman.

Corey growled at himsefl, "Fuck."

He looked up, and his eyes widened again.

"He's behind you!"

Roman turned around quickly, and saw Samoa Joe charging, about to jump out at him. Roman managed to get up on the apron and counter with an elbow to the face. The match was back on, and Corey managed to shake off his hit and get back into the ring.

He could hear the confusion at the announcers table, not understanding why Roman had given a shit about Corey's well being, or why Corey had warned Roman about Joe.

It didn't make any sense at all, and Corey knew it.

Fucking Amore...

The next minutes, the match was pretty back and forth, and the win could have gone to anyone.

That is, until a Samoa drop from Roman went wrong, and Joe countered by wrapping his arm around Roman's neck, and pressing down on his head.

The Coquina Clutch.

Thank god.

The match was just about over. Roman Reigns was going to lose. Corey had nothing to do with it.

Finally some fucking justice! Corey was fighting the urge to smile at the sight of Roman thrashing around trying to weaken Joe's hold, but that obviously wasn't working at all.

When most referees would be by the wrestlers, making sure that Roman was good to carry on, Corey stood by the ropes and waited.

But hell, who the hell was he kidding? Roman Reigns had never tapped out. He sure as hell wasn't gonna start right in front of his precious family and boyfriend and... and Enzo.

Involuntarily, Corey looked to the barricades again, and saw Enzo biting at his knuckles, watching Roman with wide eyes and furrowed eyebrows.

Corey snarled.

Fucking Amore!

It's then that he did the unthinkale. He got onto the floor in front of a panting Roman's head. He could hear Joe's constant taunting comments, but he ignored those completely.

"You good?" he forced himself to say?"

Roman wanted to give himself a minute to be shocked at the question, but he was too busy trying to breathe.

"You gonna give up?" Corey asked him.

Roman wheezed out of his crushed throat, "No."

"I could call for the bell. End this right now."

"No!"

"Then get the fuck up!" Corey snarled, "He's standing right there. You can't keep being his perfect hero if you lose to a jackass like Joe."

"Fuck off!"

Joe was ignored, "Come on Reigns, you really gonna let yourself lose to a mediocre submission move? You gonna pass out in front of him? You really wanna do that?"

" _No_!"

"Then get the fuck up!"

Roman glared at Corey through his closing eyes. He wheezed in one last breath, and then he got the fuck up.

It was slow, and grueling, and tiring, but Roman got up. But still Joe didn't let go.

Roman kept going up, until with a yell, and an amazing feat of strength, he was carrying Joe on his back. He then stumbled back as fast as he could, repeatedly, hitting his back against the buckles, until Joe had no choice but to let go.

He cried out as he clutched his back and Roman stumbled away breathing in heavy pants. But there was no rest for him, as Joe charged again. But this time, Roman met him half way, with a devastating spear.

He was too tired to even lift his leg, jsut falling over him, and Corey got down.

"ONE! TWO! THREE!"

Roman's music boomed as he rolled off Joe, still breathing heavily.

"And here is your winner, Roman Reigns!"

The screams of the crowd were deafening, but none as loud as those of the front row.

The first thing Roman did was look at them. Gina was smirking, as if she hadn't been on the edge of her seat with everyone else. Jojo was bouncing up and down and screaming, waving her hands. And Dean and Enzo were jumping up and down, hollering at the ring and at each other.

Dean threw his arms around Enzo and planted an absent kiss onto the top of his head, grinning back at the ring. Enzo's arm also went around Dean, and the two beamed at their Roman.

After all, when one won, they all did.

Roman grinned back at them as he stood up.

Corey had watched the few seconds exchange from the corner of the ring. He wasn't snarling, or glaring. Just watching.

Corey watched the look on Roman's face as he grinned at Dean and Enzo. Watched the look on Dean's face as he wound an arm around Enzo. Watched Enzo as he celebrated with his family.

Fuck. They loved each other.

Dean and Roman loved him. For real.

Fuck.

The match was over so Dean and Enzo turned quickly back into the crowd, running to the back as quickly as they had come.

When Roman was done parading around the ring, he looked at Corey. This was the part when the ref put the winners arm up.

Somehow they both knew that that wasn't going to happen.

Roman stepped out of the ring, and went slowly up the ramp. He was about halfway back when he heard the crowd start to yell. At the ring. He looked back and gasped.

Corey had been ready to follow Roman up the ramp, and a distance of course, when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"What the fuck was that?" snarled Joe.

Corey raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"That fucking pep talk you gave Reigns when I was about to win!" he hissed in his face, "What the fuck?"

Corey just rolled his eyes, "Look man, it's not my fault you can't beat Reigns. Go find someone else to wipe your tears, okay?"

Corey turned around to walk away, so he didn't see the flash in Joe's eyes. The next thing he knew, he was on the floor, his head locked and his throat crushed.

Corey gasped. Well, he tried to, but no fucking air was going in. He was losing it faster than he could even try to breath in in. He could hardly even thrash around. Joe''s grip far too tight.

Corey was a lot smaller than most of Joe's opponents, so he was losing consciousnesses a lot faster than they did. He could feel himself fading, and then all of a sudden Joe was gone.

Corey rolled away, clutching his throat and coughing. Through his blurry vision, he saw that for some godforsaken reason, Reigns was back, and staring down a fuming Joe.

He must have come back down the ring and... pulled Joe off.

Saving Corey.

What the fuck?

Why would he do that? Enzo wasn't even there anymore.

Joe was the first to move. He backed off, keeping the glare until he was out of the ring.

It's only then that Roman looked at Corey. He stood for a minute.

Surely that was enough. He'd saved Corey the embarrassment of passing out in front of everyone. So he could leave now. Right? Sure Corey was still hacking his lungs out, but it wasn't really his problem. right?

Right?

With a groan, Roman went over to Corey, "You good?"

Corey just glared, wanting to tell him to fuck off, but he was still coughing.

Roman sighed, looking around. Usually, the ref would come to help, but... the ref was the one needing help.

"Fuuuuck," he groaned, running a hand through his hair. He bent down, "Come on, I can help you to the back."

"Don't need... your help," he wheezed.

"Oh yeah? Then get up."

Corey tried to push off on his arms, but for some reason, they felt real weak. Plus, when he let go of his throat, he kept coughing.

"Yeah," Roman nodded. "Come on."

Ignoring Corey's protests, Roman pulled him up, throwing Corey's arm over his shoulder. Corey tried to pull away, but Roman wouldn't let him.

"If you keep fighting I'll just fucking carry you, and I know for a fact you won't like that."

Corey just glared at him, and the hard eyes told him that Roman wasn't kidding.

He had no choice but let his arm stay around Roman as they made their way up the ramp.

The announcers were baffled. As was the crowd. Along with the the Superstars at the back.

Back in the gorilla, Corey pulled away immediately, finding a chair and falling onto it. He was handed a bottle of water, still glaring at Roman.

"This changes nothing."

Roman shrugged, "I know."

On his way back to the screen room, Roman ran into Dean and Enzo, who were coming to get him from the gorilla.

"Damn that was... that was something." Enzo breathed.

"Yeah," grinned Dean, "Knew you were gonna win the whole time."

Enzo grinned at him, "Oh hell yeah. The whole time. The others were losing hope, but we knew."

"Yeah, the whole time."

Roman grinned at them, "Yeah I know you did," he threw an arm over both of them planting a kiss on Dean's cheek, and then for the second time, turning to Enzo before remembering that he couldn't kiss him...

Roman swallowed, "Uh, you should go check on Corey though," he said with a swallow. It was obvious that the words were all but forcing their way out of his throat.

Enzo frowned, "Corey? Why?"

Roman blinked. Right they were probably too busy trying to sneak back to the back to see.

"He had a thing with Joe. You should just probably check on him."

Enzo frowned again, "Uh... okay. Sure." He pulled away reluctantly, and made his way to the gorilla.

Dean and Roman watched him walk away.

"I keep thinking you're actually gonna kiss him," said Dean quietly.

Roman sighed, "Yeah, me too."

On their way back to the room, Dean found a door and pushed Roman through.

"Wha-"

"Are you okay?" Dean looked him over, "You won, but I mean, damn. That was tough."

"I was... distracted." admitted Roman.

Dean scoffed, ""No shit. But did you hurt Corey? That why you told Enzo to go check on him?"

Roman shook his head, "nah, Joe did." he proceeded to tell Dean the part that he had missed, and Dean listened with raised eyebrows.

"You saved Corey"

Roman nodded with a sigh, "Kinda wish I hadn't though," he muttered, "I mean, how messed up is that? The dude was having his freaking throat crushed and for a second, I wanted to just let it happen. I almost let it happen, what, just because Enzo likes him more than he likes us?"

Dean leaned against the door, "But you did help, Ro. I mean, considering your jealousy goes way past healthy,"

"Hey!"

"-the fact that you helped him says a lot." Dean smiled, placing his hands on Roman's face, "You're all mature and shit."

Roman just scoffed at him.

"Me on the other hand," sighed Dean, "Well I probably would have gone in there and helped _Joe_ out."

Roman just snorted, "You know, Dean, you're not nearly as much of an ass as you think you are."

Dean pushed him away, looking highly offended "What the fuck man, why would you say that?"

Roman just chuckled as he pulled Dean to him, "You're a nice guy Dean. You would've saved Corey, just like I did."

Dean scoffed, "Even though he gets to be with Enzo and we don't?"

"Even though he gets to be with Enzo and we don't," Roman nodded sadly, "You'd still help him, and you know it. Cause you're a nice guy." With another smile, Roman leaned in for a kiss, but Dean ducked away with a scoff.

"Really? You thing you're getting some after you just called me soft? Fuck that." he turned away with a huff, and flounced out of the room

With a smirk, Roman followed after him back to the screen room.

:::

 **And there you have SummeSlam Part One!**

 **Obviously, the night is far from over, so tell me what you think of it so far.**

 **Okay bye byee :)**

 **-Leeh**


	33. Broken Ties

**Dudes... writer block is a bitch.**

 **I've been trying to write more than one chapter at a time, but it's hard considering there is** _ **nothing in my** **brain**_ **.**

 **But hey, that's my problem, not yours. So as a thanks for your patience, here's a really super extra long chapter, and SummerSlam part 2.**

 **Okay go read it now. :)**

 **-Leeh**

:::

When Roman and Dean finally reached the screen room, they were greeted with silence.

Roman blinked, "What?"

"So we're helping the boyfriend now?" Jimmy was the first to speak, "You're that far gone?"

Roman just huffed as he sat down, "Shut up,"he muttered.

By the glances that were going around, the room had obviously been discussing Roman's level of pathetic-ness before he came back. He honestly didn't want to know what they had had to say.

Well, at least Dean was on his side. Otherwise he never would have let him tell Enzo to go look after Corey.

The though itself was torture. The fact that after Roman's match, Enzo was going to be tending to Corey instead of him. And the fact that Roman had been the one to send Enzo to it made them feel as stupid as the others thought they were.

As was evident by the looks they were getting from around the room.

Dean glared at the others on behalf of Roman, "Well what was he supposed to do? Leave him there to get pulverized by Joe?"

"That's what I woulda done," Jey shrugged.

Roman rolled his eyes, "Yeah, no doubt."

"Where's Enzo now?"

Roman sat down with a wince, "Well Graves looked kinda hurt, so I sent Enzo to go check on him. He probably needs him right now or some crap."

The room gaped, "Are you trying to sabotage your own chances?" seethed Naomi.

"Yeah! Come on Dean, tell him!"

Dean just rolled his eyes, sitting close to Roman, "What chances?" he shrugged, weakly, "It ain't like these feelings are actually gong to lead anywhere. If Enzo's happy being with Corey..." Dean swallowed hard, the next words having a hard time to come up. Roman took over for him.

"If he's happy with him, then there' ain't nothing we can do. We'll just... roll with it, you know?"

"While you pine after him pathetically?" asked Naomi.

"Yep." shrugged Dean.

"Exactly," nodded Roman.

Seth was appalled. he stood up facing his brothers, "I have never been so disappointed. What the hell kinda Shield are you? Giving up? So easily? What the hell?"

Dean glared back, "If there's any reason at all that you can think of why we shouldn't, please, enlighten us!"

Jimmy's eye was twitching as he tried to keep quiet, and he literally had to dig his nails into Jey's arm to get him to shut up too. Naomi just glared at them while Seth shook his head in disappointment.

"Well if you were going to just give up anyway, why did you come to us for help?" Jimmy all but pouted.

Dean let out a bark of laughter, "We didn't come to any of you! You're all butting in!"

"We told you by _accident_ ," Roman nodded, "And then you went and blabbed to each other.. And then to Naomi!"

"I can't keep secrets from her!" exclaimed Jimmy, "She gives me sex!"

The two opened their mouths to retaliate, but realised that they had no argument.

"Well, you came to _me_ ," Seth shrugged.

"We were drunk, it doesn't count," Dean clarified.

"Yeah but it's a good thing you did tell me," defended Seth, "Cause apparently Jimmy was having a real hard time not ratting you two out to each other. He relaxed a lot more when I told them that you two actually fessed up about your messed up feelings about your friend."

"We didn't ask you to!" Dean threw his hands up, "We are perfectly capable of sorting out this situation ourselves!"

Naomi let out a bark of laughter, "Boys boys boys," she sighed, gaining everyone's attention, "Firstly, don't blame Jimmy, he's not the one who told me first. Gina did. Not that she had to. I mean, you two are incredibly obvious."

Roman and Dean blinked at her, and Naomi just shrugged, "She told me to keep an eye on you and tell her if you two eventually fessed up to each other. To be honest I thought it would take a whole lot longer than it actually did. You know, considering."

Dean spluttered, " _Considering?_ "

"Yeah. Considering how you two are about as emotionally sound as a pair of spoons. I mean, it took a year of tip toeing around each other before you actually figured out that you loved each other. So you must understand why none of us want to go through any of that again, so no. We will not stop 'butting it' as you say, because if left up to you, it'll be another age before you actually do something about your little feelings."

Dean and Roman gaped at her. And then at each other, and then back at Naomi.

They really wanted to say something to defend themselves, but damn it, she was right. But that didn't mean they'd admit it. Hell no.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Roman crossed his yes, muttering, "and I don't get how everyone is all of a sudden so _invested_ in 'helping out' with what was supposed to be kept a _secret_."

"Hey, don't blame us, man." Jey held hs hands up, "It ain't our fault you two decided to fall in love with Enzo."

"You _what?"_

With a gasp, everyone turned to the new voice, and Dean and Roman were horrified to see Carmella at the open door, her mouth gaping, "You two... you're... you... oh my god! I gotta tell 'Zo!"

Carmella was gone form the doorway in a split second, and Dean jumped up, "You see what you did!" he thundered at Jey, as he took off after her.

They were back moments later. Dean with a struggling Carmella over his shoulder. He dropped her none too gently on one of the couches, and bore down on her.

"Hands off the merchandise!" Carmella flipped her ponytail behind her head and brushed imaginary dust off her briefcase.

She looked up to see that Roman had joined Dean in glaring at her, "What did you hear?"

Carmella smirked, "Oh besides the part where the couple of the year has got the hots for lil Enzo Amore? Nothin' much."

Dean and Roman glanced at each other, and then back at her, "Okay, how much for your silence."

"My silence?" Carmella scoffed, "You mean you dn't want me to be tellin' Enzo, right?"

"Tellin' Enzo what?"

All eyes went to the door again, and there stood Enzo, looking into the room with narrowed eyes.

"Carmella? What are you... what's goin' on?"

Carmella grinned, and let out a loud laugh, "Oh hey 'Zo!"

"Nothing's going on," Dean was the first to answer, "We were just talking. About stuff. That has absolutely nothing to do with you. Because why would we be talking about you? There's no reason for us to be-"

"Dean."

"Okay," Dean swallowed, putting his head own.

Naomi just shook her head at him, and then sighed. How did she end up in this mess?

"Alright, you three," she gestured to Enzo, Roman and Dean, "Go away."

They all blanched, "Wh- what?" Roman blinked.

"Enzo's match is pretty soon, so go to the gym or something. Work out or talk smack or punch something. Whatever it is you kids do."

"I don't need to-"

"Enzo." she said, "Go."

In the week Enzo had really gotten to know Naomi, he had _really_ gotten to know her tone of voice. And this tone told him to listen or else.

Once the three were outside, and the door was closed after them, Enzo turned to the others.

"What the hell was that about?"

Roman and Dean just shrugged, and Enzo narrowed his eyes.

"Ya'll were talking about me. And whatever it is, ya didn't want me to hear so what was..." Enzo paused and blinked, "Oh."

Roman raised his eyebrows, "Oh?"

"They think I'm gonna lose. That's it right? Everyone thinks I'm gonna lose. Do they think I'm gonna lose. Am I gonna lose? I think I'm gonna lose."

"Enzo," Roman stopped him quickly, "Nobody thinks you're gonna lose. And no, we're gonna warm up to make sure that you don't."

Enzo scoffed,, as they made their way to the gym area, "You can't help with this, you just had a really bad match."

"And you're about to have a worse one," Roman clapped him on the back, "So lets go get ready, okay?"

Enzo just sighed, "Okay."

Dean and Roman looked over his head, letting out simultaneous breaths.

That was a close one

Back in the room, Carmella was surrounded.

"Okay, 'Mella." sighed Seth, "We need you to not tell Enzo anything you just heard, alright?"

Carmella scoffed, "I don't need you to tell me not to tell him, alright? I know how to keep a secret, thank you very much."

The way she said it made everyone in the room frown, "You know another secret?" Jimmy's eyes were shining, "What is it?"

"Is it about Enzo?" Jey asked.

"Why would she know something about Enzo that we don't?" scoffed Naomi.

Carmella scowled, "I happen to be one of Enzo's best friends. Of course I know all his secrets. I bet I know more than you guys anyway."

"If you're talking about the fact that he's in love with Dean and Roman, then yeah, We know."

Carmella blinked, "Did he tell you? Oh my god, did he tell everyone but me?"

"Well we kinda pulled it out of him," shrugged Jimmy. He frowned, "Wait, if he didn't tell you, how do you know?"

"Corey told me," Carmella shrugged.

Seth frowned, "Didn't you guys say that Corey and Enzo are like... fuck buddies?"

"They are." frowned Jimmy, "So you're saying Graves knows too?"

Naomi let out a long groan, "Oh my god, I thought this was a secret. How is this a secret if everyone knows about it?"

"Well, not everyone," said Jimmy slowly, "Looks like the only people who don't know that Enzo loves Dean and Roman are... Dean and Roman."

Jey snorted, "And the only person who doesnt know that Dean and Roman love Enzo is... Enzo."

The room sighed, and Naomi shook her head, "It took a whole year for those two to get a clue. I ain't waiting that long this time."

"Well now they can be dumb together," shrugged Seth, "That oughta make things quicker, right?"

"Or their combined stupidity can slow it down even more," said Jey.

"I'm giving them a week," said Jimmy. He held his hand up at the others' protests, "I don't care what ya'll say! If they haven't' told each other by the end of the week, I'm locking them all in a very small closet until they do. Or so help me God"

:::

"Uh, Gina?"

Gina turned from the napping Jojo to look at Leah, who suddenly had a very pained look on her face.

"Yeah?"

"I... I gotta tell you somethnig."

She blinked. "Okay..." she said slowly."

Leah took a breath, "Look, it's a secret. Except, I'm really, really bad at secrets. That's why Enzo didn't tell me this until Corey did. Cause I'm really really bad at secrets. I know that because I once accidentally let slip that my dad had a meth lab in the basement and I got him arrested and that's why I had to stay with Mama in the first place and..."

"Wait what?" Gina blinked.

Leah shook her head, 'That's not the point. I'm babbling. Sorry, I told you I'm bad at this. Anyway, as I was saying, I suck at secrets. But I feel like, I can tell you this thing because I feel like we've gt a real bond, you know?"

Gina blinked, "We met a few hours ago."

"Ad we're already so close!" Leah exclaimed, "That's great don't you think? I think it's great. Which is why I think I have to tell you about this super secret that I'm not supposed to tell anyone except I can't keep it to myself or I'll explode! And Enzo's gonna fucking kill me if he finds out I told you so you can't say anything to him because he'll kill me. Okay? Okay." she gulped, "Okay."

Gina blinked at her babbling with a sigh.

"Are you trying to tell me that Enzo's in love with Dean and Roman?"

Leah blinked at her for a few seconds, her mouth open, "What!?" she snapped, "He told you!"

"I figured it out," she shrugged, "Just like how I figure out Dean and Roman love him back."

This time, it looked like Leah was about to spontaneously combust, "WHAT?"

"You knew that part right?"

"Do I look like I fucking knew that part!" she shrieked, "Are you kidding?!" Oh my god! Oh my god how do you know this?"

"Everyone knows," Gina scoffed, "The twins, for one. And Naomi, and Enzo probably told Carmella. Seth too Ill bet." she turned to Leah, who looked seriously worrying.

"I'm the last to know?" she shrieked, "Why the hell am I always the last to know!"

Gina smirked, "You just said. You suck at keeping secrets. Now Shh. Enzo's match is about to start."

:::

On the other side of the Arena, Dean, Enzo and Roman had no idea that their 'secrets' were circulating like wildfire amongst their 'trustworthy' group.

But even if they did, they probably wouldn't mind at that moment. They had a mission. They had a goal.

And that was the destruction of Colin Cassady.

There was a short recess just before Enzo's match. It as supposed to be half an hour, but it felt a whole lot shorter. Too short in Enzo's opinion. It seemed that the match was getting closer and closer, and Enzo didn't necessarily want it to.

He'd been preparing for weeks. He'd been ready for _weeks._ For days and nights on end, he had wanted nothing more than to get into that ring and fight Cass tooth and nail. He'd been waiting so long for this night, and all night he had been waiting for this moment, and right now, it was fast approaching. Finally.

So then why did Enzo have the sudden urge to run out and wait in the car until it was over?

Warm up was done. He'd spent most of it talking himself up rather than actually warming up, but that was the same thing in his book. He'd received well wishes and worried looks from those in the screen room, and then warned that if any of them even thought off interfering, he'd kill them slowly.

And now he was on his way to the gorilla with Dean and Roman on either side of him. Walking to the match that he'd been waiting for for so long.

And he wanted to run for the hills.

Enzo though he should probably say something, but then what could he say?

 _"I don't wanna do this anymore, lets go home"?_

Hell no. He'd just buck up and get it over with. There was no way he could say something.

In the end, it turned out he didn't have to.

Unbeknownst to Enzo, Dean and Roman could tell what he was thinking just by his face. His face was very bad at hiding things sometimes. They'd had a silent conversation over his head, and the next thing he knew, Enzo was being pulled into one of the many empty storage rooms in the Arena.

"Alright, spill it." said Dean as he closed the door and then stood in front of it.

Enzo gulped, "Spill what?"

Roman sighed next to Dean, "You're never this quiet unless you really need to pee, or you're thinking too much. And neither of those things are good considering you're gonna be in the ring in about five minutes."

Enzo looked at them through tired eyes. He should have known there was no point trying to lie to theses guys anymore. It never worked out anyway. But still, what could he say?

That after all this time, Cass's words might finally be getting to him? At the worst possible time? Or that he really was starting to wonder if size really did matter in this situation? Or if Cass would really hurt him in there as much as he'd promised?

All these things were plausible reasons to be wary about this match, but that didn't even begin to get to the feeling that was in Enzo's chest and in his throat and in his head.

And the way Dean and Roman were looking at him now, they knew. He'd been silent for too long, and they just let him be. Because they know.

Finally taking a deep breath, Enzo looked up.

"I'm scared," he said quietly.

It was all he could say at that moment, and he hated that he had to admit it.

Roman was the first to speak, "So are we."

Enzo raised his eyebrows, but Dean carried on, "I mean, considering you're the one who's gonna be fighting, we really have no right to be, but damn... this is scary."

"Yeah, I mean, we don't know how to stay out of things." shrugged Roman, "In case you haven't noticed. We butt in. It's what we do for people we care about, so not being able to butt in, especially right now..."

"It's scary as shit." finished Dean.

"So if it helps any, just know that you're not gonna be the only scared person in that ring."

"Yeah." nodded Dean, "Plus, you gotta know the Casshole will be shitting himself in there."

Enzo snorted, "Oh yeah?"

"Hell yeah," Dean said, as if it was the most obvious thing, "I mean think about it. It's basically a three on one situation in there. Just cause we ain't in the ring don't meant we won't be right there."

"In his face."

"The whole time."

"And of course Leah will be right there cussing him out every time he gets close."

"And you know Gina can just look at someone and they'll turn to stone."

"And Jojo," Roman grinned, "She screams louder than anyone."

"And she never gets tired, so that's sure to get to him too."

"And also," Roman gulped, "Well, Corey will be there."

"Yeah," Dean's enthusiasm faded a little, "Corey."

"And even though he won't actually be able to get involved, him being there should also... help."

"Yeah." by now Dean was trying not to grit his teeth, "Graves being there will help. Seeing as you two are-"

"The point is," Roman interrupted, "You won't be alone in there, Enzo. You'll literally be able to look anywhere while you're in that ring and you'll find... well... you'll find something to make you keep going. Something that's gonna make you not give up. No matter how scared you get."

Enzo listened with a growing smile on his face. He nodded with a sniff, "Alright. You're right."

Roman still wasn't convinced that he was completely reassured, so he took to the one thing he knew always worked.

He took a step forward, and pulled Enzo in for a hug. He held him tightly, resting his cheek on Enzo's head. Enzo sighed deeply, letting himself be enveloped in the hug.

"We will be right there. The whole time," Roman said softly.

"You can do this." Dean said. He had a hand on Enzo's back and was rubbing up and down in what he hoped was a comforting manner, "Cass ain't got nothing on you Enzo. Not when you got us in your corner. You hear me?"

Enzo turned his head away from the warmth of Roman's chest to look at Dean. He swallowed, and then nodded again.

A few seconds later, he detached himself from Roman, who was all of a sudden having a difficult time letting go.

"Alright," Enzo said, clearing his throat, "Let's do this."

:::

"And the following match is a Brooklyn Street Fight! Introducing first, to be suspended 20 feet above the ring in a shark tank, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns!"

"Why do we always gotta come out with your music?" Dean pouted.

"Cause you always lose the coin toss," snorted Roman.

Dean just rolled his eyes. They looked back one more time at Enzo, who was bouncing from one foot to the other, headphones blasting music into his ears as he psyched himself up.

"Quite mooning over him and go!" Bianca the backstage girl shoved them through the curtain with a growl.

The two didn't have a chance to show their surprise, because they were then out on the ramp, in front of thousands of fans.

"Did she just say..."

"Yeah," Roman spoke without opening his mouth, "Yeah she did."

"You don't think the twins told her do you?"

"That. Or we really are that obvious."

Making their way closer to the ring, Roman suddenly didn't feel like talking anymore.

He'd known about the shark tank for a while. A really long while. He knew it would be small, and he knew it would be up in the air, but the fact didn't quite register until that moment.

"Twenty feet really isn't that high," Dean whispered as they stepped into the ring. "I mean, you can basically jump that high. It's all good."

His words did little to comfort Roman, as the referee gestured for them to step in. Dean was first, with a very, very slow Roman behind him.

It seemed like hours, but it was only seconds, before the ref had shut the door and clanked it shut.

But they weren't lifted up just yet.

That's when Enzo's music rang out. Dean took the opportunity to turn to Roman, "It's okay. You'll be okay. You're fine, alright? I mean, at least it's not a plane, right?"

It wasn't the most comforting thing in the world, but it was Dean, and he was trying, so Roman tried to calm himself.

And between Dean whispering in his ear, and seeing Enzo bouncing around on the ramp and yelling into the microphone, Roman had enough comfort around to not throw up.

Just enough.

Until that is, Big Cass came out.

The sight of him made Roman want to throw up for a whole different reason.

A few minutes passed, and Enzo was in the ring, and Cass was in the ring, and the door was shut and locked behind Dean and Roman, and the referee motioned for the tank to be lifted.

It went up with a jerk, and it took everything in Roman not to grab onto Dean's hand right there.

The tank went up painfully slowly, with Roman holding his breath the entire time.

"Why the hell did we agree to this shit?" he almost whined.

"I have no idea." Dean growled.

As worried as he was about Roman right now, Dean knew that the real problem was down there. Both Enzo and Cass were watching the tank as it went up. Cass had a huge shark grin on his face as Enzo's help went away. Enzo had a look of concern. At first, Dean thought it was because of Cass, but another look told him that Enzo looked way more worried for Roman at that moment.

Dean gave Enzo a nod, telling him that he'd take care of Roman. Enzo nodded back, and then looked back at his opponent.

Dean looked from Enzo, who was about to have one of the biggest matches of his life, to Roman, who was facing one of his biggest fears. Well, two of them,actually, if you counted the one where he was going to have to watch someone he loved get hurt. With no way to help.

Dean swallowed, and let out a long sigh as the bell rang out.

This was going to be a long match.

:::

"He's fine. He'll be fine. He's gonna be fine right? He'll be fine."

"Leah I swear, if you don't calm down, I'm going to throttle you." Gina said through gritted teeth.

Leah gulped, "Okay. Yeah. Sorry. It's just... he hasn't done anything yet."

The match had been going on for just over a minute, and nothing had happened short of a few shoulder locks and releases.

"But you're right. He's fine. He's okay. He'll be-"

"Leah shut up!"

Gina glared at her daughter, and Leah gasped as Jojo yelled at her, "That's a bad word!" she hissed st her. Jojo dug into her pocket and pulled out a quarter. She handed it to Leah, "Don't tell Daddy, okay?"

Leah tried not to smile as she pocketed the quarter.

Jojo turned to look up at Gina, "Do you think Daddy's gonna puke?"

"Why would he puke?" frowned Leah.

Gina sighed as she looked up at the tank, "He's scared of heights," she said. "Being 20 feet high in a tank probably isn't doing his gag reflex any favours."

Leah looked up too, and saw that Roman's fists were clenched so tightly that they were turning white. He seemed to not be moving at all. Like... at all.

Dean kept turning from Roman, to looking down at Enzo, and back again.

"He's gonna give himself whiplash," sighed Gina.

"I don't think he's gonna do anything." Leah was back to worrying about Enzo, "He's not gonna do anything. Neither of them are gonna- oh!"

She gasped as another shoulder lock ended with Cass throwing Enzo across the ring, where he hit his nack against the turnbuckles.

Adn so it started.

"Shit. I jinxed it didn't I."

:::

"And they are underway!" Michael Cole yelled, as Cass started pummeling Enzo in the corner.

There was hardly a quiet moment between Michael Cole and JBL as the action happened in the ring. So much so, that no one particularly noticed that Corey Graves was unusually quiet. He hadn't made a single comment since coming back to the announcers desk, and no prodding from any of the other announcers could get him to actually participate.

He was too busy concentrating on the match in front of him.

It hadn't been going on for long, but it was happening as everyone had expected.

Cass was pummeling Enzo. Throwing him around the ring and landing blows and kicks everywhere he could. But still, Enzo Amore was holding his own.

He got up quickly after every throw, and blocked or ducked from most of the punched that were thrown at him.

He wasn't winning, but he sure as hell wasn't losing either.

Everyone's hope went up when Cass charged at Enzo in a corner, and Enzo ducked out of the way, getting Cass to dive shoulder first for the pole.

Enzo smiled at Cass's yell. That was sure to keep him down for a while.

Now it was time to really get started.

Enzo scrambled out of the ring, and ran towards the base of the ramp, where stood a trolley full of weapons. Weapons that Enzo fully intended on using. This was a street fight after all. And they were in Brooklyn. And Enzo had a whole lot of shit to get off his chest.

First, he grabbed the kendo stick. Oh yeah, he planned to do a lot of damage with this kendo st-

"Watch out!" he heard a shriek from Block A First Row.

He turned just in time to see a giant thundering at him, and Enzo raise his stick and swung as hard as he cold, right into Cass's abdomen.

Cass had the wind knocked out of him. It was obvious that he hadn't been expecting Enzo to be fighting back so soon. And it was equally obvious that he hadn't been expecting Enzo to be that strong. He fell to his knees, but before he could even let in a painful gasp, the stick was on him again.

Adn again and again and again.

The sight of Cass writhing on the floor was a beautiful one for all those watching, and Enzo was thriving off causing him pain. Unfortunately, it didn't last as much as he would have liked.

Sensing he was in trouble, Cass kicked out a long leg, and it caught Enzo straight in the knee. The buckle caused a gasp all around, and Enzo fell with a pained shout. He dropped the stick in favour of grabbing at his knee, and the now fuming Cass took advantage. He grabbed the same stick, and his attack on Enzo started.

And for a long time, it didn't look like it was going to end. Hit after hit, Cass carried on, until the stick broke on Enzo's back.

The skin on his back was a mess of rising red marks, and the clearest view went to the two who were twenty feet above the ring.

"Ro," Dean gasped, "Shit this is bad. This is real bad."

Cass discarded the broken stick, and went back to the trolley. He came back with a chair.

Roman gulped as he forced himself to look down despite his nausea, "Oh no."

:::

The screen room was silent. No one made a sound as they watched the carnage on the screen.

Cass had broken two sticks, an tired himself out with a chair. They'd been outside the ring as much as they'd been inside, and all the while, Cass was on the attack.

"I can't watch this," Carmella said softly, although her eyes never left the screen.

"This is bad," Seth muttered,"He needs help. We... we need to help."

"How the hell do we o that from here?" sighed Jimmy.

"We can't." Naomi shook her head, and then sat up quickly, "Well, at least not from here."

It took everyone a while to figure out what she was saying, but eventually, eyes brightened in realization, and then everyone was on their feet and running out of the screen room.

:::

Enzo had no clue how much time had passed. He really had no idea. He was past the point of thinking anything right now, he was working purely on instinct. That's the only thing that could explain why he had just kicked out of a pin, again, when all he really wanted was for this to be over.

He needed this to be over.

Everything hurt. His back was on fire, and his head was pounding, and his chest felt like it was crumbling, and his legs were giving in, and his arms ached like hell. Everything hurt, and he wanted it to be over, but he kept kicking out.

Maybe it was because every time he was on his back, he saw that cage, and those two pairs of eyes that looked down at him sadly.

Enzo couldn't let himself lose while those eyes looked at him.

So he kept kicking out. And Cass loved it, because it meant he could keep hurting him. And damn, he did.

The ring and it's surroundings were littered with weapons. None of which had come to Enzo's avantage. He was losing, and he knew it.

He realised that he was alone in the ring. Cass was probably going to get more things to torture him with. He was all but deaf to the cheers of the crowd and the announcers' comments. He was just concentrating really hard on breathing. That is, until...

"Come on Enzo, let's go!" Enzo blinked and turned his head to the side. He knew that voice.

"You got this Uce!" yelled another similar voice.

"Come on bro, come on!"

Enzo's eyes started to focus, and he realised that at the front row on his right, stood Jimmy, Jey and Seth.

"You got this boo!"

"Let's go Enzo!"

Enzo turned his head again, and on the other side stood Carmella and Naomi. hey stood screaming at him. Screaming _for_ him.

Another loud wordless shriek caught his attention, and Enzo lifted his head to see Jojo, perched on Leah's shoulders and clapping her hands at him.

Enzo swallowed again, struggling to get up on his elbows.

He was surrounded. Just like Roman and Dean had said, he was surrounded. And he'd be damned if he gave up in front of his whole family.

When Cass made it back into the ring, carrying another chair, he was surprised to see Enzo standing and ready for him.

In the tank above, Dean and Roman were smiling. Enzo was up. and so the fight continued.

With renewed energy, Enzo fought. He gave back as many hits as he received, and his constant moving around was tiring Cass out, and he knew it. Chairs went flying and tables were broken and sticks were snapped and trolleys were rammed as the match went back and forth, and Enzo stood his ground.

The yells from around the ring an above it were deafening, and Enzo fed off the support gratefully.

Kicking out at Cass's knee, Enzo was pleased to finally get the giant down. He leatp up and ran for the ropes. He climbed to the top, and jumped without a thought.

But he didn't see the chair that was waiting for him on the ground. The edge drove into Enzo's ribs as he fell to the ring, and he landed on the mat holding onto his chest and gasping for breath.

A leering grin came over Cass's face as he advanced, chair raised and ready for attack.

The match went downhill from there.

Every time Enzo tried to get up, he was pushed back down. Every time he tried to fight back, he was attacked even more. Ages passed with Cass bearing down on him, Enzo having no way to get back up.

After a while, he stopped trying.

The scene was a sad one for all of those watching. But no one was in more pain than the two that were twenty feet above the ring.

"Dean," Roman gulped, his voice smaller than it had ever been. He looked sick. Positively sick. And for once, it had nothing to do with the fact that he was 20 feet in the air in a swinging shark tank.

They weren't shouting encouragement anymore, or yelling obscenities at Big Cass, or even trying not to gag. The cage had gone silent. As had Enzo's front row cheerleaders. even the commentators had nothing to say.

Dean wanted nothing more than to grab onto Roman and hide. Hide from the carnage that was going on below them. He didn't want to watch this. Neither of them wanted to watch this. But they had promised Enzo that they would be there for him, so they couldn't hide now. Even though they were so high up and could do absolutely nothing, they had to be there.

Cass had abandoned all his weapons. He felt he didn't need them any more. He pushed the bin away, and kicked away all the broken sticks, and shoved at all the bits and pieces that surrounded the ring.

Enzo just lay in a heap by the barricades, his shoulders rising and falling in quick heavy pants.

Other than that, he wasn't moving. Until, that is, Cass grabbed his hair and pulled. He dragged a weakly struggling Enzo to the edge of the ring before throwing him back in. Cass rolled in after him, and then finally lay a flat hand on Enzo's chest.

Finally.

The ref was quick to start counting, eager for this match to end.

But he never got to three. There was a collective gasp around the arena as Enzo Amore kicked out. Again.

Cass looked down at him with surprise. And then he laughed. He threw his head back and... he laughed. Cass stood up again, staggering a bit at his knee injury. He grabbed Enzo up with him, and then he looked up, straight at the cage. He grabbed Enzo's face and forced him to look up to.

"This is your fault, you know!" he yelled up at the cage as he laughed, jerking Enzo's head from side to side, "ya'll probably told him to stay strong! Not give up! Huh? You told him not to give up, and now all he's gonna do is keep getting hurt!" the manic grin on Cass's face was as disturbing as it was sickening, "You happy?" he thundered, "Huh!" He turned back to Enzo, and took him down with a vicious clothesline, and then looked back up, "You happy now!?"

Dean and Roman looked down at Cass with murder in their eyes. Dean's hands gripped the bars, so hard he was sure they would bend.

He crouched down, wanting to get as close to the bastard as he could.

"I'm gonna kill you." he said, His voice was soft, but Cass heard it all the same. He'd never heard Dean Ambrose sound so calm. No one ever had. But somehow this... this was a whole lot scarier than the lunatic he was used to. And with Roman standing behind him like that, his fists clenched and shaking at his sides, the two were a picture of unadulterated fury. All aimed at Cass.

For a few seconds, he forgot that they were 20 feet away from him, and in a cage, and he felt a flicker of fear.

But only for a few seconds. And then he remembered that _he_ was the one in charge right now. They were all the way up there. And he was all the way down here, with their precious little puppy.

Cass's slipping grin came back with full force, and he turned back to Enzo, who was shuffling towards the ropes, hoping to pull himself up. Cass got to him before he could. A boot struck him in the gut, and Enzo let out a groan as he went back down. Only to have the kicks keep coming.

"We have to do something," Roman growled as his hands tried to shake the bars left, "We have to _do_ something!"

Dean was pacing . Or as much as one could pace in such a small space.

"Fuck, come on Enzo," Roman was still speaking through gritted teeth, "Come on Enzo, you can fight this. Come on!"

Enzo had now been driven to a corner, and was trying to block the boots that kept coming at him.

The referee finally managed to get Cass to back off. But he only gave Enzo a few seconds to breath before he grabbed him, and tossed him across the ring.

As Enzo fell, he kept rolling, until he was outside.

"Yes," Roman muttered, "Good, evasion is good. Take a breather. That's it."

He knew that his ringside coaching wasn't helping anything, but it was better than doing nothing. he had long ago pushed his nausea to the back of his mind. He was still scared shit less of being up here, but he'd found that seeing Enzo down there was even scarier. so he pushed his nausea aside and tried as hard as he could to be there for him.

But still, he had never felt so useless.

All of a sudden, the cage stopped swaying, which meant that Dean had stopped pacing. Roman turned around to see shining eyes looking at his.

"Ro, give me one of your hair pins."

Roman frowned, "I don't wear any hair p-"

"Roman this is not the time for you man- pride, just gimme a pin!"

Roman blinked at him, and then reached into his hair, and pulled out a small black pin, letting hair fall into his eyes.

"It's Jojo's..." he tried.

Dean just rolled his eyes, and then went to the door of the cage, grabbing the padlock.

Roman's eyes widened, "Oh my god. You think you can-"

"I don't know," Dean said as he jammed the pin into the lock, "It's not like what I'm used to, but... but this has to work."

There was suddenly a commotion down in the ring, and Roman's head snapped down while Dean kept working on the lock.

Half of Enzo was underneath the ring, and Cass was pulling his leg. Hard. With a final tug, he pulled Enzo free, and when Enzo emerged, he wasn't empty handed. The flash of white fumes that sprouted from him came as a huge surprise to Cass. He stumbled back as he was attacked with a fire extinguisher.

"Yes!" Roman jumped up, shaking the cage and making himself feel sicker. Dean cursed, "Fuck, I dropped it!"

Roman quickly reached into his hair for another one and handed it to Dean, who got back to work.

Down in the ring, the white smoke finally stopped, but Cass was still coated and coughing on the floor.

Enzo dropped the extinguisher and fell back, still breathing heavily an painfully. But he'd bought some time, and that was what he needed. The shouts of his cheerleaders roused up once again.

Enzo only allowed himself a few seconds, and then he got up.

It was a slow process, but first he was on his knees. And then on one knee. And then both his feet. He held onto his ribs as he dragged himself up onto the apron, and then rolled into the ring.

Unfortunately, Cass was recovering quite quickly too. And he was furious.

Caked in white, he slapped as much of the stuff off him as he could before charging back for the ring, and for Enzo.

"Come on Dean, hurry!" Roman urged. Dean's hands were shaking as he jammed the pin around the lock.

Cass was already in the ring, and once again dragging Enzo up. The fight started again, but new strength had come to Enzo. No one knew where it came from. It could have been the screams from the sidelines, or the yells from above, or just from the fact that Cass was covered in white fluff, and looked slightly less intimidating.

Whatever is was, Enzo was fighting back. Hard.

Roman swallowed down the still lingering nausea as he nodded rapidly as Enzo fought, still gripping onto the bars like they were a lifeline.

The match had come full circle. Enzo wasn't winning.

But suddenly, he sure as hell wasn't losing either.

"Shit. Give me another pin."

Roman dug into his hair and handed it to him without turning around.

The back and forth continued, and the cheers never faltered. Enzo was holding his own. He was doing fine. He was doing fine. He was... oh no.

A sudden turn, as Cass raised a boot, and planted it against his head.

Enzo was down. And it didn't look like he was going to get up this time.

Roman sagged against the bars, and Dean kept on working frantically on the lock. Everyone waited for Cass to make the cover and finish it. That was all that was left to do.

But apparently, he had other plans. Cass glared down at Enzo, and then he grabbed at him again. He dragged him to the corner, throwing him against the lowest turnbuckle.

"What is he doing?"

Cass then leaned in, and said something in Enzo's ear, before rolling out of the ring.

"What the hell is he doing?"

Cass was moving slowly. A testament to the damage that Enzo had done. Roman almost smiled proudly, but then he saw what Cass was heading for.

He made towards the metal trash can, and heaved it up.

Roman found himself blinking again, "What is he doing?"

Cass went for the other side of the ring, opposite Enzo, and rolled the trashcan in, following slowly after it.

"No." Roman realised, "no no no."

He turned, "Dean hurry!"

"I almost got it."

Cass stood up, leaning against the roped for support.

"Fuck, no! Dean!" Roman thundered.

"I almost got it!"

Cass heaved the heavy metal can up, and braced it in front of him. He was planning on crushing him. He was going to crush him!

"Dean!" Roman cried.

Cass let out a shout as he started to charge, and Dean let out a yell as the lock gave way an the door swung open.

Before he could make a rational though, Roman leapt. He forgot that he was terrified and nauseous. He forgot how high he was for a moment, the only fear pumping through him was for Enzo.

So he leapt, jumping out of the shark tank just in time.

Cass collided with him before Roman's feet had even hit the ground.

Dean looked down in horror at the scene in the ring. He knew just how strong and heavy those trash cans were. He knew what a collision with that thing felt like. And now so did Roman.

He lay under the big metal can, eyes closed and body unmoving. Cass got up blinking and staring at Roman, who was suddenly on the floor. It took him a moment to realise what had happened, and he growled.

He did not like being interrupted. He made to pound on Roman some more, but a mass of limbs was suddenly on him.

"You leave him the fuck alone!" Enzo growled as he leapt on Cass, landing fists wherever he could.

Any semblance of strategy or control was gone as he flailed around. Roman was hurt because of him, and he'd be damned if he let Cass touch him again.

Enzo's attack managed to get Cass to back up, but then one huge punch sent Enzo reeling.

Cass shot out a hand, and set it around Enzo's throat. He got up, squeezing tight as Enzo glared and thrashed around.

"You really thought you coulda won?" Cass sneered, "Even with your big hero here, you can't beat me, Amore. You will never-"

Before he could finish, Cass was abruptly cut off, as another body came flying from the sky, and landed directly on top of him.

Cass fell in a heap, with Dean on top of him.

Rubbing at his throat, Enzo blinked, "Dean,"

"Do the top rope flying thing!" Dean yelled as he rolled off Cass and went to check on Roman.

Enzo scrambled away, and went to the nearest turnbuckles.

With the crowd and his cheerleaders behind him, he climbed them, still holding onto his ribs. When he got to the top, he tried not to look at Dean trying to get Roman to wake up. If he looked there too much he'd climb right back down and try to help.

But he had to finish this. So Enzo jumped.

The impact hurt him almost as much as it did Cass. Almost.

Enzo knew it wouldn't be enough.

So he limped back to the turnbuckles, climbed the ropes, and again, he leapt. Falling on Cass with a groan. But the sharp intake of breath from Cass made it worth it.

But still, it wasn't enough.

This was the guy who'd humiliated him in this ring time and time again. The guy who'd hurt him, inside and out, more than he'd ever been hurt. The guy who had almost made him give up on life. The guy who had fucking ran down _his_ Roman with a trash can.

It wasn't enough.

So again, Enzo climbed the ropes. He glared down at the seven foot heap on the canvas. He looked to his side, and Roman's eyes were open, and both he and Dean were watching him up there.

For the last time, Enzo leapt, coming down with a crash, and planting an elbow into Cass's ribs. Enzo fell over the man's chest, and the referee fell next to him.

"ONE! TWO! THREE!"

The cheers were deafening, and the relief was crippling, as Enzo's music rang loudly though the arena.

He blinked, looking up from Cass's chest and breathing heavily.

He looked around. There was Jimmy and Jey, whooping and pumping their fists at him. Seth was clapping so hard his hands must have been turning red. On the other side, Naomi and Carmella were screaming, arms around each other, having forgotten for a second that they hated each other.

Gina had her hands over her mouth as she sagged in relief over the barricade. Jojo, who had finally been allowed to look, was perched on Leah's shoulders and shouting to high heaven. It was a wonder she wasn't falling, seeing as how Leah was jumping up and down like that, with something that looked suspiciously like tears on her cheeks.

At the announcers desk, Corey Graves had taken off his jacket, something no one had ever seen him do in public, and was holding onto his head as he took relieved breaths.

And then Enzo looked into the ring.

Dean and Roman were on the floor with him, the broken out of shark tank dangling above them. Enzo rolled off Cass's chest, and breathed heavily as he locked eyes with them.

A slow grin spread across his face, "We... we did it." he breathed, "I won."

Dean's grin matched his, "Hell yeah you won."

Roman nodded, and then winced at the throbbing in his head. He wanted to celebrate too, but all that came out was, "Ow,"

A chuckle tore out of Enzo, and then he winced, and fell back onto the mat, still holding his chest.

Dean looked from Roman to Enzo, both flat on their backs. He sighed.

"Well one of you better get up. Cause I ain't carrying you both."


	34. Broken Pills

When Roman, Dean and Enzo got back to the Gorilla, Kurt Angle was waiting for them, accompanied by a team of medics with a stretcher.

As soon as Roman was away from the fans' eyes, he found the nearest bin and collapsed beside it, emptying his stomach immediately.

Kurt raised his eyebrows at him, but the medics near him were too preoccupied with pealing Enzo away from Dean's hold.

"Don't need a stretcher..." Enzo was mumbling, "'m fine I can walk."

"You are not fine," Kurt stepped in. "You're going to the nearest hospital to get checked out, so get on that stretcher right now Amore." he glanced at Roman, "Maybe I should have brought two."

"I don't need a stretcher," Enzo kept mumbling. But for once, Dean was agreeing with Kurt.

"You need a hospital and a lot of morphine. Come on baby get up there."

There was a joint pause around the room at Dean's words. He winced when he realised what he had said. More so when Enzo blinked up at him with a frown.

"Did you say-"

"Buddy. I-I said buddy. Get up there. Buddy."

Enzo nodded, immediately believing the lie. The others weren't so gullible, but they couldn't dwell on it at the moment.

Enzo was finally carried onto the stretcher, and they started walking. Dean immediately went over to Roman's side, who was finally all out of vomit.

"Come on," he pulled him up, "You're getting checked out too."

"I don't need to," Roman grunted as Dean pulled his arm over his shoulder to support him, "I'm fine, really."

Dean just rolled his eyes, and started off following the stretcher.

"Did... did you call him 'baby' just then?"

Dean winced, "It slipped out."

Roman let out a small smile, "It sounded good."

"I know right," Dean grinned back.

They eventually caught up to the stretcher, which was moving slow due to Enzo's constant wiggling.

They finally made it outside, where a ambulance stood waiting. It was no surprise to see that there was an entourage waiting next to it.

Jojo was the first to see them, "there they are!" she shrieked, "I _told_ you they'd come here!"

"You were right, squirt," Seth ruffled her hair as they all gathered around the stretcher.

"You did it!" Leah grinned, all but materializing by Enzo's head, "I told you you'd do it! You squashed that bug! " she grinned, "Well, you all did." she looked down at Enzo, he eyes shining, and then bent down by his head so that only Enzo heard her, "Dude, they fucking jumped out of that cage for you."

Enzo smiled up at her sister, "They're pretty great friends, huh."

"Are you okay?" Jimmy interrupted, getting to the stretcher, "you don't look okay."

"Yeah, you look like shit," nodded Jey on the other side of him.

"I thought you were gonna die!" sniffed Jojo.

"Me too." Enzo smiled at her, "But I'm okay, kiddo. Really." He held out a fist for her to bump, and Jojo returned it enthusiastically.

"Okay?" Leah scoffed, "You look like roadkill."

Enzo let out a snort, before wincing and clutching at his chest.

"Stop making him laugh," Carmella slapped her arm, "You're making him worse!"

"I'm fine." Enzo assured. No one actually believed him.

"No you're not!" Leah hissed,

"He's not fine," confirmed the head medic, "we're taking him to the local hospital, and you all can meet him there."

"Can we come with?" asked Gina.

"'fraid not," said the another medic, "Only one is allowed to accompany him."

They glanced back at Dean and Roman as he said it.

Dean scoffed, "Just try to stop us from coming. I dare you."

"Sirs you really can't-"

"I _dare_ you."

The medic meant to continue, but the glares that were coming from the suddenly very scary looking huge wrestlers made him reconsider, "I guess there's room for another." he muttered.

Enzo hadn't seen the look, but he had an idea of what had happened, and he smirked as he was loaded onto the ambulance, with Dean and Roman following after him.

The doors were closed, and the vehicle roared to life and started off, leaving the group behind them.

That is, until the ambulance stopped, and the back door opened again. Dean popped his head out, and everyone was almost sure they could hear him grinding his teeth.

"Graves," he said, slowly.

Corey looked up, surprised, and everyone turned to him, having completley missed the fact that he was even there.

"Enzo's asking for you."

Corey had to try hard not to look shocked, and then he had to try even harder not to look smug, as he sauntered up to the ambulance and climbed in.

It was a tight squeeze. what with Enzo on the stretcher, and Dean and Roman and two other medics, but they had to make do.

"Ain't you supposed to be working?" Enzo asked Corey, his voice tired.

Corey shrugged, "Didn't feel like it."

Enzo chuckled softly, before letting out a cough. He swallowed down with some difficulty, and then looked up at Corey again.

"C'mere," he said suddenly, motioning him over with his hand. Corey raised and eyebrow, but inched closer.

"C'mere!" Enzo insisted again, Corey went closer. Enzo kept motioning him over, again and again and again, until Corey's ear was right by his mouth.

"Alright, listen," he whispered as quietly as he could, "When I get to the hospital, they're gonna pump me up with lots'a pain meds, and morphine makes me loopy. And I say a whole of stupid shit when I'm loopy, you know what I'm saying?" His eyes darted to the two at the foot of his stretcher, "Like... _really_ stupid shit. So Im'ma need ya to please make sure I don't say any stupid shit. Please."

Corey raised his eyebrows at Enzo, and then sighed with his eyes closed, "Seriously?"

"You're damn right seriously!" Enzo whispered, "I can't have anything coming out while my inhibitions are down! That would be a huge fuck up."

Corey just rolled his eyes. It probably wouldn't be the complete opposite of a disaster if Enzo accidentally declared his love. In fact, it would probably move things along quite well.

But who was Corey to say no to a wounded fighter?

"Sure." he smiled, "I'll make sure you don't say anything."

:::

Back outside the arena, the rest of Enzo's entourage watched the ambulance go.

Very suddenly, Leah whirled around, facing the rest of them with a stern look on her face.

"We need to talk," she declared, glaring at them all as if she wasn't talking to a bunch of people who were a lot bigger, stronger, and basically more important than her.

She stormed off, back into the arena, completley expecting everyone to follow her. And surprisingly they did.

Leah smirked, happy that she was intimidating enough to lead a group so tough. Well, it could have been because of the fact that she had Jojo in her arms, but Leah chose to ignore that part.

The group found itself back in the screen room, all sitting on the couches, except Leah, who was standing by the wall in front of them.

SummerSlam was still happening around them, but they all had something a little more important to worry about.

"Alright," Leah snapped the Kendo stick she had found on her hand, speaking loudly, "I have gathered you all here today because we all know and love these three individuals." She snapped the stick against the wall, pointing at three posters she had picked up on the way here. "Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and Enzo Amore."

The ones sitting down blinked up at the girl standing up there, who was trying really hard to look stern, but was failing drastically because she kinda had the face of a chipmunk.

"I'm sorry, but...who are you?"

"She's Leah silly!" giggled Jojo.

"Yeah, I'm Leah, silly," Leah grinned at Jey, " _Huge_ fan of yours, by the way. I'm Enzo's sister."

" _Foster_ sister," Carmella cut in.

Leah snapped annoyed eyes to her, "Yes. Thank you so much for that oh so important bit of information, Carmella."

Carmella just popped her gum, "Whatever, short stack."

"Now can we get back to the issue at hand?"

"Do we have to do this now?" Jimmy sighed, "I mean we've all had a long night, and we're all going home to the same place anyway."

"Well _I'm_ not!" Leah exclaimed.

"Well that's your problem," Carmella scoffed.

Gina raised an eyebrow at her, "And who says you're coming?"

Carmella gaped, "Hey! What did _I_ do?"

Gina just shrugged, "Naomi doesn't like you. So I hate you on principle."

Carmella gasped, offended, and Naomi just smirked at her.

Leah huffed at the interruptions, rolling her eyes, "Okay ladies, if you're done, can we get back to the situation at hand?" she turned back to everyone, "We're all here because we all have a common purpose."

"And what purpose is that?" asked Seth.

"To make Enzo Daddy and Dean's boyfriend," answered Jojo.

Eyes turned to her in surprise.

"Okay, how the hell does the baby know about this?" Carmella blinked.

"I'm not a baby, I'm six!" Jojo crossed her arms, wholly offended, "and I know because uncle Jimmy told me."

Eyes snapped to Jimmy, and he shrugged, "Well what was I supposed to do, lie to her?"

"Yes, Jimmy!" Naomi slapped his arm, "That is exactly what you were supposed to do!"

"Hey, wait, this could be good," Seth cut in, "Jojo knowing could actually be a good thing. Who better to convince her dads to man up and say something."

There were murmurs all around, but Carmella wasn't convinced.

"So, we're getting the six year old to help get her dads a third bed buddy? Yeah, that sounds really smart."

"Could you not say 'bed buddy'?" Jey whispered, loudly, "There are baby ears present,"

"I'm not a baby, I'm six!" Jojo exclaimed, "And what's wrong with saying bed buddy? Daddy and Dean sleep with Enzo all the time!"

That sure caused a hush in the room, and all eyes snapped to Gina, waiting for an explanation. She sighed, and grabbed her IPad again.

"Here baby, why don't you play with your game, okay?"

"So you can keep talking without me hearing?" Jojo sighed, "Okay."

She put on her headphones and started playing her game.

"So we can talk without her hearing." Seth nodded, "that is a smart kid."

When Gina looked up, everyone was still staring at her.

She sighed, "Alright, back home in Pensacola, Enzo was having nightmares, so Roman and Dean put him in their bed so they could try and stop them. And also so that they could perve on him in his sleep."

"Aww," Leah leaned against her stick, "That's adorable."

"Uh, no." Jey made a face, "That's weird as hell."

"Hey," Leah pointed a stick at him, "Don't kill the romance."

"There is no romance!" Seth yelled out, "Ain't that the point of this whole meeting!"

"Right." Leah nodded, "Thank you Seth. I'm a _huge_ fan by the way. Ignore all the hate mail I've been sending you for the past few years, alright?"

Seth raised his eyebrows at her, spluttering, but Leah just flashed him a dazzling grin, "Now, where were we?"

"Nowhere." Naomi said, her arms crossed, "We were no where. This thing is a waste of time."

"This is not a waste of time, Naomi!" Leah exclaimed, "These three are driving me crazy! And I love your eyeshadow by the way, you look beautiful!"

Naomi was taken aback by the sudden change of tone, but Leah was back on track in a second, "and I'm sure they're driving you all crazy too. I mean, I only just found out about this whole thing, and I can already tell that this has been going on for way too long."

"Well then what do you suggest we do?" scoffed Carmella.

"I already said," Jimmy put his hand up, "We lock 'em in a room until-"

"We're not locking them into a room," Gina sighed.

"Well then how else are they gonna fess up?"

"I hate to say this," shrugged Seth, "But I think Jimmy might be right. We know how long it took Dean and Roman to get together-"

"And I am not going through that shit again," Naomi shook her head.

"But now, there's two of them wanting Enzo." shrugged Gina, "Maybe that'll make make the process go faster."

"Or," shrugged Jimmy, "Their combined stupidity can make this drag on a whole lot longer."

Leah sighed, "Okay, let's breathe a bit," she held her stick up, "And think. Now, you guys know Dean and Roman longer than I have. Are you absolutely sure that they won't mention something to Enzo? Like... subtly, maybe?"

Everyone shook their heads, and Leah sighed.

"And even if they did mention something subtly, it ain't like Enzo would get it." shrugged Jey.

"Why not?"

"On account of your brother is an idiot."

"Hey!" Leah defended, "Don't call him an idiot!"

"Well... he is."

Leah opened her mouth to protest, but then she sighed, "Yeah. Yeah he is."

"Hey! Maybe we could get Corey to tell him!"

Everyone turned to Carmella, blinking.

Naomi sighed, "Corey Graves?"

She nodded, "They're friends now, you know."

"Yeah. Friends with benefits," snorted Jimmy.

"And I don't think it would be a good idea getting him to tell Enzo while they're in the sack, you know?" shrugged Jey.

Seth snorted, "Well why would he tell him during?"

"Well," Carmella shrugged, "That's how Enzo told Corey he had the hots for Roman and Dean.

The room gasped, "He told him _during?_ " chocked Jey.

"Well, not really," Carmella explained, "he just kinda yelled out the wrong names."

Naomi winced,"That is cold."

Gina set her fingers to her temple, "This is a lot of information I'm getting all at once."

Leah sighed, sensing that she was losing control of the situation, "alright, can we get back to the issue at hand please!" she snapped her stick, "How do we get these three idiots to admit their undying love for each other. And maybe I'm being biased, but I really think Dean and Roman should be the ones to bite the bullet and say something."

"Why do _they_ have to say it first?" Gina frowned.

"Becasue there's two of them," shrugged Leah, "Duh."

"Yeah, but when it comes to talking about feelings, there might as well be _half_ of them," said Naomi.

Seth sighed, "Isn't there any chance that Enzo might just get a clue and realise that Dean and Roman have feelings for him?"

Leah sighed, leaning on her stick again, "Seth. sweetheart. Earlier tonight, Dean and Roman jumped out of a twenty foot high shark tank for Enzo, and he thought they were being good friends. Do you really think he'll just 'get a clue'?

Seth sighed, and the rest of the room sighed with him.

"This is gonna be a long night, isn't it."

:::

Just as Enzo had predicted, once at the hospital he was pumped full of morphine, and it really did make him more than just a little loopy.

He had been found to have a bad concussion, a twisted wrist and several bruised ribs. But his body felt a whole lot worse than that. Hence all the meds.

Roman had bruised ribs and a mild concussion, and his treatment was rest and quiet. Of course, he refused to even consider leaving the hospital until Enzo was also cleared.

Enzo had been cleared to go home a while ago, but he was in no state to go anywhere at the moment. So Dean and Roman and Corey sat with him in his room while he was high as a kite.

He lay back on the bed playing with a straw in his mouth, twirling it around between his teeth. His big eyes were drooping, almost closed as he looked around the room. And yes, he was saying a whole lot of stupid shit. Corey really had his work cut out for him. He was sitting on the bed reading a boring medical magazine and trying his hardest to deflect all the stupid shit that Enzo was saying.

And there sure was a lot of stupid shit.

"You're so pretty," he mumbled for the sixtieth time, "And so rugged and chiseled and... and you're so pretty."

Corey sighed, "Thanks Enzo. You're pretty too."

Enzo giggled, the straw falling out of his mouth, "You're the prettiest-ist ever, you know?"

"Uh huh. You too."

"And... and I like your blond."

Corey blinked, "Uh... right. Okay, I'll dye my hair blond."

"And... and your tattoos. Your tattoos are so hot and so pretty."

Corey sighed, "Thanks Amore."

Enzo grinned, his eyes half lidded as he let his head fall back.

Corey risked glancing at Roman and Dean. He tried hard not to smirk as they sat in the hospital chairs staring down at their shaking hands with clenched jaws.

Wow, they were pissed. Well, he guessed it was pretty upsetting that they had spent the last hour listening to the guy they loved tell Corey how great he was.

Well maybe if they would just stop sulking and look up for a second, they'd see that Enzo wasn't talking to Corey. Hell, he wasn't even _looking_ at Corey, but rather at them.

A part of Corey knew that he shouldn't be helping with all this deflection. This was probably the best thing that could've happened really. High Enzo telling Dean and Roman how he felt was probably the best way to get this whole thing over with.

His inhibitions were down. Or, completely gone actually. He could say all the things he was too scared to say, and then Dean and Roman would tell him how they felt, and bam, just like that, no more tip toeing and no more pretending and no more of this irritating back and forth.

So Corey really should just leave this room and let it all happen instead of letting Dean and Roman grind their teeth to dust while they listened to Enzo fawn over 'Corey'.

Yeah. That was the right thing to do.

Corey just kept flipping through the magazine.

"You know," Enzo whispered. Well, he probably _thought_ he was whispering, "You know, I saw you naked one time."

Corey sighed, "It was more than just once, actually."

He couldn't hide his smirk when he saw Dean's leg jerk up.

"Your butts are so cute." Enzo muttered.

Corey bit the inside of his cheek, "I... I only have one butt Enzo."

"The hottest butts ever," he sighed happily, closing his eyes, "And don't even get me started on your goddamned-"

"Okay-" Roman shot up out of his seat, his fists clenched, "How about you rest now, Zo, okay?"

Enzo smiled dopily at him, "Okay."

"Yeah, have some water and then sleep for a little while."

"If you say so Ro," Enzo smiled, and then he laughed, "So, Ro. So, Ro! I made a rhyme!" he cackled again, "Enzo made a rhyme. Hey! So, Ro, _Zo_! And Deano!"

Enzo threw his head back as he laughed without abandon at his awesome rhymes.

Dean and Roman shook their heads, chuckling and the clearly wigged out Enzo.

As he laughed, Roman started to arrange the hospital covers around Enzo, that he had already kicked off so many times, and Dean grabbed another straw and poured water into a glass. He held the straw to Enzo's lips, and he sucked on it sloppily until the water was gone. Roman finished with the covers, and the two turned away, until hands grabbed at their wrists. They turned back to see Enzo holding onto them.

His eyes were open a little more, and they were focused for once as his eyes moved slowly from Dean to Roman.

"You jumped outta the cage," he said softly.

Dean and Roman glanced at each other, and then smiled down at Enzo, "Yeah, we did," nodded Roman.

"For... for me?" he blinked.

Dean nodded, "Of course, 'Zo."

He blinked up at them, his hands tightening around their wrists, "Why'd ya do that?"

Roman smiled softly at him, placing a hand over the one on his wrist, "Are you kidding, Enzo?" he smiled, "Why wouldn't we?"

Enzo just looked up at them, and then his smile widened, and he let his hands slip from their wrists, and he drew back into the covers, closing his eyes.

He was out within the minute.

And Dean and Roman still hadn't taken their eyes off him.

On the other side of the bed, Corey watched them as they watched him.

He wasn't feeling so smug anymore. He put down his magazine and stood up. He was at the door when he hear a voice call him back.

"Where are you going?"

Corey looked back at Roman with a raised eyebrow.

"Excuse me?"

"He'll want you here when he wakes up, you know." said Dean, trying not to sound bitter, "You should wait for him to wake up."

Corey blinked at them with a frown. Seriously? They'd been on the verge of choking him all night, and now they wanted him to stay because Enzo might want him there when he woke up? This was a whole different type of whipped, and it was downright pathetic.

Corey scoffed, shaking his head, "So when exactly are you planning on telling him?" he asked, completely changing the subject.

Dean and Roman didn't have to ask what he meant. Finding out that people knew how they felt had stopped being a surprise by now.

Roman licked his dry lips, "Why would we do that?"

"Yeah. He already seems to be taken." said Dean as he picked at a loose thread on the covers.

Corey raised his eyebrows. Sure, he hadn't exactly been trying to make them think otherwise, but still, were they really this damn clueless?

Corey shook his head, "You're pathetic," he sighed, as he yanked the door open and marched out of the room.

Dean and Roman glared after him, before looking back at the sleeping Enzo. Roman limped over to the other side of the bed and sat softly on the bed. He brushed some hair away from the snoring Enzo's face, and sighed.

"He's right you know."

Dean nodded, placing a hand over Roman's as they watched Enzo sleep.

"Yeah. Yeah, we are pretty pathetic."

:::

Roman lay back on Enzo's bed as softly as possible. It was good he was so fast asleep. Roman was only laying down because Dean wasn't there. If Dean saw any sign of him being hurt, he'd insist on smothering him with unnecessary bandages and wheelchairs and he'd never let him do anything by himself.

And sure, maybe right now, none of that would be unnecessary, but Roman would admit that over his dead body.

But right now, Dean had gone to get them a rental car, so Roman could lay down for a bit. And the fact that he was laying next to Enzo made it all the better.

The TV was on, playing something uninteresting. Not that Roman would know, he wasn't even looking at it.

Enzo's mouth was half open, and bits of unruly hair kept falling in. It happened every few seconds, and Roman would brush it away every time. Just to get the hair out of his mouth.

No other reason at all.

Roman tried hard not to stare, but it was quite impossible. Enzo was beautiful. and the snoring and the drool and the messy hair only added to it. Roman knew it was wrong to be looking at him like this. Especially since Graves had basically just confirmed that they were a thing.

How the hell were they supposed to compete with Graves? For one, there was one of him. Which, arguably was how relationships were supposed to work, right?

Two people. Not three. Two.

Maybe Roman and Dean really never stood a chance in the first place. Enzo and Corey sounded a lot better than Enzo and Dean and Roman.

It probably made a lot more sense too.

Enzo snorted, drawing another lock of hair into his mouth. Roman let out a smile and brushed the bit out again. This time his hand stayed, and Roman could have sworn that Enzo's face snuggled against his hand a bit.

Roman shook his head.

Screw what made sense. Screw it all.

They should at least give themselves a chance, right? A slim one, but a chance none the less.

It would be a whole lot better than... this. This pining and hurting everytime they fucking looked at Enzo... it was unbearable. Rejection had to hurt a lot less that this not knowing, right?

Roman sighed at himself. He talked himself up a lot, but he, and everyone who knew him, knew that he was a coward when it came to talking about... feelings and stuff. He saved all that for when he was drunk.

The only person who was worse than Roman at this was Dean.

Which meant that the chance of either of them willingly telling Enzo how they felt was slim at best.

The door opened, and Dean walked through, smiling when he saw Roman in bed with Enzo.

"That is a small ass bed," he chuckled.

"I'm making it work," Roman said quietly, brushing some more hair out of Enzo's mouth.

He frowned when he saw what was behind Dean.

"I ain't getting in that wheelchair."

"Come on don't make this a thing."

"I don't need it!"

"Like fuck you don't. You look like pain, Roman."

Roman tilted his head, "Wh... what does that even mean?"

Dean just rolled his eyes, pushing the chair into the room, "Come on, the car's outside."

Roman inched off the bed, leaning onto the bedside table. Dean narrowed his eyes at him until Roman was standing up straight.

"Alright, let's go."

Dean scoffed, "It took you 6 hours to stand up straight, and you think I'm gonna let you walk all that way? Hell no. Now, I gotta carry Enzo out of here, and-"

"And I'll walk behind you."

"-And you're gonna get into this chair or so help me god."

"Dean, come on."

"Roman," Dean glared, "You better get your hurt ass into this wheelchair right the fuck now or I will..."

"What?" Roman scoffed, "You'll what?"

Dean crossed his arms, "I will call your mother."

Roman opened his mouth to keep arguing, but then snapped it shut.

"You wouldn't."

"Try me."

The two stood there staring at each other with narrowed eyes. Roman eventually huffed, walking slowly over to the wheelchair. Dean grinned triumphantly.

"You're a dick, you know that?"

"Yeah yeah, I love you too."

It took a while to get to the car. As much as Dean insisted that Roman needed help, he himself refused any that came from the medical staff. He ignored all of Roman's comments about him being a hypocrite.

When they got to the car, Dean manouvered Enzo gently into the backseat, and then forced Roman into the passangers seat when he tried insisting that he could drive. Dean tried to get Roman to sleep for the journey home, but then he had to wake him up again when he got lost.

They finally got to the house, and the darkness told them that everyone else was still at the arena.

The trek from the driveway to the door was a long one, and Dean sighed as he killed the engine.

"Alright," he turned to Roman, "I'm gonna take Enzo to his room. You wait here so I can help you up too, okay?"

Roman only let out a grunt as an answer, which was the best agreement Dean could ask for.

He went to the backseat, getting Enzo out as gently as possible. Honestly, it probably wouldn't have made much of a difference, seeing as the drugs had knocked him out completley.

Dean began the long trek up the driveway to the front door. By the time he got into the house, he was hella tired, and he hadn't even started with the stairs. Damn Enzo really was pretty heavy.

Dean finally got to Enzo's bed, and set him down as gently as he could. He hurried out quickly, going to get Roman from the car. To his surprise, when he got to the staris, he saw Roman at the bottom, holding onto the rails and pulling himself up.

"What part of wait in the fucking car don't you understand?!" Dean groaned as he hurried down, steadying the hurt man.

"I'm fi-"

"I swear to god, if you say 'fine' I'm gonna push you back down that driveway."

Roman shot him a look, and shook his head. Dean sighed, exasperated.

"Roman, why can't you just let someone help you for once? You're hurt, just let me fucking help!"

Roman knew that his pathalogical need to always be the one helping instead of being helped was annoying, but he honestly couldn't help it. But still, he finally let Dean take most of his weight, and he leaned on him the rest of the way up the stairs.

When they got to their room, Dean sat Roman down on their bed, stripping him from his vest, and then laying him down and taking off his shoes.

"You know you're babying me, right."

Dean smirked, "Pay back for when you baby me. Every single day."

Roman chuckled, trying not to show how much it hurt his chest." Dean just manouvered him into a sleeping position, draping the covers over him.

"I'll be right back," he said, once Roman was comfortable, "I'm gonna fix up Enzo. Get him out of his clothes."

Roman smirked, "You're getting him out of his clothes, huh?"

Dean laughed, "You're dirty."

"Yeah, you love it."

Dean left him with a soft kiss on his lips, and then went across to Enzo's room.

He hadn't moved a muscle since Dean had left him, except for the snores that were leaving his mouth.

Dean let out a small smile as he went over to the bed. He sat down at the foot, and slowly started to unlace his Jordons, placing them by the bed. He removed all 5 chains arnd his neck. He'd insisted on wearing them all at the hospital, despite the doctor saying no multiple times.

He set the chains by the bed, and then he peeled off the jacket that Enzo was wearing.

Corey's jacket, that he'd put on him as soon as they got to the hospital.

Dean tried really hard to not glare at that damn blazer, and he was very proud of himself when he set it on the chair without stomping it into the ground until it was nothing but shreds of fabric.

See? Maturity.

Dean sighed as he took the bed covers from the foot of the bed and wrapped them gently around Enzo's body, curling them up under his chin. Dean's hand slid next to Enzo's cheek, brushing softly against the soft skin bushy beard.

Enzo mumbled something in his sleep, and then let out an adorable snort. Dean snorted softly.

He sighed as he sat on the edge of the bed, looking at Enzo.

How in the hell had this guy gotten him to feel like this? Feeling like this... it sucked.

It sucked balls, and Dean couldn't understand why he was feeling like this.

He guessed that the knowledge that it wasn't just him made it a lot better, though. At least Roman was just as fucked up as he was.

Which, considering how he was looking at Enzo right now, was a lot.

Dean let out a small sigh again, as he clenched his hands in front of him, trying hard to keep them from doing something like stroking Enzo's cheek and waking him up.

Or worse, do something like kiss him.

Because that was really all Dean wanted to do. To just bend down and kiss Enzo the way he kissed Roman. Was it really that bad for him to want that?

Was it that bad that he wanted to just take Enzo and put him in the bed between him and Roman and just smother him with the love that was having such a hard time staying in Dean's chest? And undoubtedly Roman's.

Was that so wrong?

Well, he guessed he'd never know until he... well... until they actually told Enzo how they felt.

Until they let him know that Roman and Dean's amazing relationship of five years suddenly felt like it was missing a big chunk, and that big chunk was Enzo.

Would that freak him out?

Dean swallowed. Of course it would freak him out. Hell, it was freaking Dean out.

How was he supposed to tell Enzo something that he himself didn't understand?

He squeezed his eyes shut, taking a deep breath.

What the hell were they gonna do?

Mustering up all the strength in him, Dean stood up, and turned to walk away from Enzo's room.

It felt wrong, walking away from him. But what was he supposed to do?

What could he do?

Dean walked across the hall to his and Roman's room, were he stripped off his clothes and got under the covers. Roman felt the presence next to him and unwound an arm, curling it around Dean.

Dean gratefully curled into Roman under his arm, and layed his head on his shoulder. He let out a small sigh as he closed his eyes.

Roman's arm tightened aroun Dean, "Are you okay?"

Dean just swallowed, and shrugged.

Roman sighed softly, knowing what he meant. He turned his head, and planted a long kiss on the top of Dean's head.

Dean sighed softly at the comforting tough, "I dont know how long I can..." he swallowed, not finishing the sentence.

He didn't need to.

"I know." Roman nodded. "Me too."

Dean let out a slight sniff, "I wish he was here right now."

Roman swallowed, "I know."

Dean placed a careful arm around Roman's waist, "I don't want him to be with Corey."

Roman nodded again, "I know."

Dean lifted his head, looking up at Roman. Sad blue eyes locked with sad brown ones, and Dean let out a small sigh.

"What are we gonna do Roman?"

Roman swallowed. He wanted an answer. he needed an answer. Not just for Dean, but for himself too. he needed something to make him believe that this would all end up alright. That it would end with Enzo loving them back, the way they wanted him to. The way they need him to.

He needed an answer, but he didn't have one.

He looked at Dean sadly, placing a kiss on his forehead, and letting out a sigh.

"I don't know."


	35. Broken Hope

It was early morning when Leah finally made it back to the hotel.

The group discussion hadn't really gone anywhere. But that was fine because Jey had invited her to his house later in the morning to carry on.

Jey Uso. Had invited Leah to his _house_.

And sure, he had only done it because he, along with everyone else, was exhausted and just wanted Leah to shut up.

But she decided not to think about that part.

Leah was on her way to her room, when she stopped. She turned from the 3rd floor and went down to the 1st.

Room 102. Where Corey was sleeping. She hoped he didn't ask how she knew that, because that would lead to a very uncomfortable conversation involving pick pocketing and his loose blazer pockets.

She knocked gently, just in case he was sleeping. Luckily he wasn't.

He opened the door with weary eyes, and just stepped aside without a word.

Leah walked in, her eyebrows raised.

"Whoa, Graves," she blinked, "You look like shit."

Thanks," Corey just shrugged. He went back to his bed, where he was lying with a robe and... hopefully something else underneath. His room was a mess too, which was weird because Corey kinda struck Leah as one of those people who was so neat they liked to fold their handkerchiefs.

"Are you having a mental breakdown?" she asked quietly, before wincing and thinking she should have used a little more subtly.

Luckily, Corey just chuckled,"You could say that."

Leah shook her head, and dropped her backpack by the foot of the bed. She went straight to the mini fridge, and was almost disappointed to see that it was full, completely untouched since he'd been in here.

"I assume you're a whiskey guy?"

Corey just shrugged, so Leah grabbed a bunch of mini bottles of whiskey, and a few vodkas for herself and went over to the bed.

"What is it with you and your brother thinking alcohol is the answer to everything?"

"Alcohol is not an answer to anything," Leah scoffed, "It just postpones your thinking so that you don't have to have one until later."

Corey scoffed, "Surprisingly that kinda makes sense.

Leah grinned, and then sat with crossed legs on the bed and handed Corey a whiskey, and opened up a vodka for herself.

Corey made a face. "You drink vodka neat?"

Leah shrugged, but made a face at the taste, "My roommate, Anastasia, is this Romanian girl, and she almost had a fit when she saw me mixing vodka with lemonade. She considers it some kind of crime."

Corey raised an eyebrow, "Are you using Romanian stereotypes to cover up your drinking habits?"

"I'm serious!" Leah insisted, "They're crazy for vodka over there. Anastasia says she took it to school in a juicebox since she was 5."

Corey snorted, "Yeah, that's a lie."

"No seriously," she nodded, "Apparently it's good for your bones."

Corey laughed, shaking his head, "Both you and Anastasia are so full of shit."

Leah smiled as she took another swig from her mini bottle, "Well at least we got you smiling. Finally."

"I smile all the time," shrugged Corey, which earned a scoff from Leah.

"Only time I saw you smile tonight was when Enzo pinned Cass. And you squashed that one down pretty quickly. And also when Enzo called you into the ambulance. And also when Enzo-"

"Okay, thank you," he tried to shut her up.

She ignored him, "And also when Enzo came into your dressing room at the beginning of the night-"

"Leah."

"You know? Just after you were about to tell me why you hate that Enzo's with Roman and Dean. Instead of you."

Corey just swallowed hard, taking another long gulp of his whiskey, "How about we shut up about that?"

Corey was surprised when Leah didn't keep pushing like he expected her to. She just took sips of her vodka and looked at him. When her eyes started getting uncomfortable, Corey sighed, "So how was the rest of the show?" he asked to fill the silence.

"I don't really know," she shrugged, "I spent the rest of it backstage with the others. We were... we were figuring out how to get Enzo with Dean and Roman."

Corey let out a cold chuckle, "Oh, that's... that's great."

Leah sighed at him, "You know... you know that Dean and Roman-"

"Love him back?" Corey interrupted, "Yeah I know."

The cold tone in his voice, and the way he gulped down the rest of the tiny bottle, made Leah sigh. If she hadn't been sure earlier, she was now.

"Damn it Corey."

Corey nodded slowly, "Yeah. I know."

Leah sighed again, and then scooted over so she was sitting with her back against the headboard.

Corey got started on his second bottle. Apparently giving him alcohol was a good decision on Leah's part, because Corey started talking a lot more than he usually would have.

"You know, when I first found out how Enzo felt about Dean and Roman, I laughed at him." he shook his head, "I literally laughed in his face and told him how pathetic it was to love people who so obviously will never love you back. I laughed at him. And now I..." he swallowed hard, "Now I'm the one who-" the sentence caught in his throat, and he decided that drinking was better than talking at the moment.

Leah sighed as she watched Corey bite the inside of his cheek and lean back on the pillows.

"Corey?" Leah said softly, letting out a sniff.

"Mh?" he hummed.

"I'm sorry."

Corey gulped hard, "Yeah me too."

Leah sighed again, "Well... maybe you can-"

"No" Corey said immediately, "No there's nothing I can do. Trust me on that."

"But you can't think like that. I mean... he called you to go to the hospital with him, so that could-"

"He asked me to go to the hospital with him because he knew that they were gonna pump him full of drugs. and when he's drugged up he's-"

"Painfully honest." finished Leah.

"Exactly. So he needed me to deflect all his declarations of love."

"And... did you?"

Corey nodded, taking another drink, "Had no choice. Half the time I thought they were gonna jump across the room and knock me out. Or at least leave the room, you know."

"Did they?"

Corey shook his head, "Nope. They refused to leave the room. Refused to leave Enzo's side." he gulped down some more of his drink and let out a huge sigh, "I mean, it's really hard to convince myself that he shouldn't love them when they fucking do things like jump out of steel cages for him and wait while he gets drugged up and fucking send him to check up on me after I get flattened by Samoa Joe and..." Corey just shook his head with a growl, "It just sucks. A lot. And there's isn't a damn thing I can do about it."

Leah watched him with sad eyes as he polished off his whiskey and looked straight ahead, It was only when she sniffed hard that Corey looked to her, and frowned.

"Leah, are you crying?"

"No," she squeaked. wiping her face.

"Oh my god, why the hell are you crying?" he made a face.

"I just... I just spent all night finding a way to get Enzo with those two, and the whole time you're actually in-"

"Don't say it." Corey cut her off, "For the love of god, please don't say it."

Leah sniffed again, "Well... well maybe you should tell him."

Corey just shook his head.

"But you two are already sleeping together so you're halfway in."

"Leah stop."

"But-"

"No!" he snapped, "I don't wanna hear it. Besides, you're right. You just spent all night making plans for him to be with them so there's no point switching sides now."

"But-"

"Look it's not gonna happen! So drop it."

"I can't just drop it!"

"You have to."

Leah glared at him through watery eyes, "Why haven't you said anything?"

"To who?" he scoffed.

"To Enzo!" she exclaimed, "To Enzo! Why haven't you said anything to him?"

Corey just shook his head, not looking at her and not saying anything.

"Corey-"

"When exactly should I tell him?" he snapped his head at her, "During the sex when he's thinking about them? Or during conversation when he's taking about them? They're all he wants, okay? You've known how he feels for a minute, I've known for weeks. You haven't heard him talk about them. You haven't seen the way he fucking lights up every time he even looks at them. I'm his friend. Barely that. Even if those two didn't love him back, I still wouldn't have a shot. I wouldn't even _want_ a shot. So let's just drop it okay?"

Leah did not want to drop it. Far from it. Possibly just because she had just spent all night and early morning on Dean and Roman's side and having no idea that her friend was hurting like this on the other side. Considering she had only officially met that man a few hours ago, Leah was surprised to see how much she felt for him. She didn't like seeing him like this.

But what could she do?

Leah tried to sniff her tears away, "I'm sorry." she sighed again, still wiping at her eyes.

"Yeah, whatever." he finished off the bottle in his hand. He threw it aside and finally looked at Leah. He scoffed at her, "I still can't believe you're crying."

"I cry a lot. You'll get used to it." she shrugged.

"I just wanna sleep," he brushed the empty bottles off his bed and turned as he lay down. He expected Leah to get up and go to her own room, but instead, he felt the covers on the other side of the bed shuffle, and then he felt small arms go around him.

Corey blinked as he was spooned from behind, "Leah."

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing?"

"Shh," she whispered, "I'm cuddling you."

"I... I see that." he said slowly, "I'm asking why."

"That's... that's what people do when they're sad." she said quietly, "They cuddle."

"I don't want to cuddle," he said immediately.

"Yeah you do," she whispered, "Trust me."

Corey let out a long sigh, "Leah, get off me."

"You really want me to?"

"I really do."

"Are you sure?"

"Leah!"

Leah sighed against his back, "Give it a few seconds, okay? I promise, this helps. If you really want me to move, I'll move. but just enjoy it for a second."

Corey glared at the wall across from him as she stayed cuddled up against him. He'd let her have her little spooning session for a second and then he'd shake her off. Simple. The only reason he was even letting this go on this long was because it was impolite to push a crying girl off one's bed. That's the only reason.

Some time passed, and Leah whispered, "You still want me to move?"

Corey opened his mouth to say that yes of course he did, but it wouldn't leave his mouth. Instead, he let out a defeated sigh and let himself relax into the hold.

"You can never mention this to anyone."

Behind him, Leah smiled, "Promise."

She lay her head on the pillow, her arms still around Corey, "Goodnight, Corey Graves."

"Yeah whatever," he mumbled.

The room finally filled with silence as sleep finally seemed to come to the two, but a few minutes later, Corey frowned.

"Leah?"

"Yeah?"

"How did you know where I was staying?"

"Shh," she whispered quickly, "Just go to sleep."

:::

It was well into the morning when everyone started to wake up. It took even longer for everyone to get out of bed. In fact, they all probably would have stayed a bit longer if it weren't for the smells coming from downstairs.

When Roman sniffed the air, he nudged Roman softly.

"Dean."

"Uh huh?" Dean asked from where his face was buried in Roman's chest.

"You smell that?"

"All I smell is you," he mumbled with a sigh, "Speaking of which, we should probably go shower."

Roman flicked his head, as Dean chuckled, "No you dick, get up and smell that."

Dean finally lifted his head and made a show of sniffing the air. He frowned, "Smells good."

"Yeah. And since when does Jey's house ever smell good?"

Dean blinked and looked up, "He's cooking again ain't he."

"He should be in bed! Didn't we tell him to stay in bed?'

Earlier in the morning when Roman was going to the bathroom, he saw Enzo struggling down the stairs and had sent him back to bed, where Enzo swore he'd actually stay.

Lying bastard.

Dean sat up first, getting off of Roman's chest and swinging his legs over the bed.

Roman followed suit, a little slower since his ribs still hurt like a bitch. So if his hurt like this, Enzo's must have been worse, and the idiot was still on his feet cooking.

"Alright. let's go scold him." Roman stood up, making for the door.

Dean let out a long sigh, "Roman."

"Yeah?"

"Put some pants on."

Roman looked down, and closed his eyes with a sigh, "Right."

The two got to the kitchen, and sure enough, Enzo was a blur in there.

"Ah damn it," he groaned when he saw them come in, "I was hoping I'd be done by the time you woke up."

"And I was hoping you'd actually listen to me for once," sighed Roman.

Enzo shrugged, "What can I say? I'm a disappointing guy."

Dean rolled his eyes with a chuckle, "Alright, just tell us what to do."

Enzo raised his eyebrows, "Oh no don't worry, you don't gotta help."

"We wanna help, come on, just point us in the right direction."

"Oh yeah, I get that." said Enzo slowly, "It's just... I don't really want you to..."

Roman and Dean frowned at him. And then at each other.

"You don't want us to help?"

Enzo shrugged, "No offense you guys, but every time you step into a kitchen I get scared. You might burn it down."

"Hey!" Roman glared at him, "That only happened once!"

"Yeah, and I'd rather not see it again, thanks."

Dean sighed at Roman, "He's nicer when he's high."

"Oh yeah, definitely."

"When I'm high?" Enzo scoffed.

"Like last night. You know, when you were high."

Enzo's hands froze over the waffle batter, and his head snapped up.

"When I was high?" he said again horrified.

"You don't remember?" Dean asked with raised eyebrows.

Enzo stared at them with wide eyes. Oh shit. Oh no. He knew what he was like when he was high. He spewed his guts out like he had a bad case of verbal diarrhea and it never turned out well. Ever. The last time he'd had a morphine boost, he'd confessed his love to Carmella and she half avoided, half ridiculed him for a straight year.

If he had been high last night...

"Oh god, did this happen at the arena? Or... or at the hospital? What happened? Who was there? Were you there?" Enzo hoped his voice wasn't as shaky and scared as he was on the inside. Luckily, it seemed like it was in his head, because Roman just shrugged as he sat down heavily.

"Yep. At the hospital."

"You were in some serious pain but you didn't want meds. But once you got a little you kept begging for 'em." Dean laughed as he grabbed some chips out of the cupboard, "You were pumped, dude."

Enzo swallowed hard, his hands still frozen over the waffle batter. Well... they didn't look like they hated him, so he couldn't have been that bad... right?

"You did a whole lot of talking though," said Roman, slowly, "You seem to talk a lot when you're high on morphine. You know, more than usual."

Enzo's eyes widened even more. Oh shit, he spoke too soon.

"Yeah? And... and what did I say?" he gulped.

Dean stood behind Roman's chair, eating the chips slowly, "Well, you weren't exactly talking to us. You were mostly focused on... on Graves."

Enzo's head snapped up, "Graves was there?" he couldn't keep the relieved sigh in as his hands finally moved again, "Oh thank god. I'm so happy, Graves was there." If Corey was there, he would've made sure that Enzo didn't say anything stupid in front of these two. So thank fucking god for Corey. Enzo turned back towards his cooking, his mind at ease that he hadn't poured out his heart while hopped up on drugs.

With his back turned, Enzo didn't see the faces fall behind him.

Dean and Roman stared at his back as he kept on with his cooking, muttering loudly to himself as he threw things together.

 _I'm so happy Graves was there._

Roman looked up from the chair at Dean, who was no longer chewing. They had talked about this. They had talked about this in the early hours of the morning when they should have been sleeping.

They had talked about the way Enzo talked about Graves in that hospital room. How every single thing he said about him made him smile like an idiot. The way that broody asshole made him say such stupid things and look so adorable as he said them...

It didn't matter how they felt right then. It didn't matter that they could feel their hearts simultaneously flutter, and then break, as they watched him. They didn't matter. Not when the person making Enzo smile and simper like an idiot was Corey Graves and not them. They loved Enzo more with every moment they spent with him, but he loved Graves, and it was about time they stopped aching to beat Corey up for it, and just be supportive friends. Like Enzo needed.

That's what he needed, so that's what they would do.

That's what Dean and Roman had spent all the early morning talking about. They knew it wouldn't be easy, but they sure hadn't expected the punch to their hearts when Enzo said his name like that.

Roman sent a strained smile up at Dean, and Dean swallowed, squeezing Roman's shoulder, as they both turned back to Enzo.

"You should invite him over." said Roman, trying to keep his voice light.

"To breakfast?" asked Enzo as he grabbed some eggs, "You think Jey will be cool with that?"

"He just opened his house to the whole roster two days ago," shrugged Dean, trying not to look stiff, "He'll be fine."

"Besides, it's Gr... it's Corey." said Roman, "About time we all started to get along with him, right?"

Enzo turned towards them, "Yeah?"

They nodded, and Enzo grinned, "Oh, good. 'Cause I was gonna say something but I didn't wanna force ya'll to be friends you know? But I do think it's about time ya'll stop hating each other, you know what I'm saying? Since he and I are-"

"Yeah totally," Dean interrupted, "You should call him, I'll watch your... waffle goo."

Enzo grinned at him, and picked up his phone, going to the other room to make the call.

In the kitchen, Dean shrugged, "I get that we're rising above and stuff, but that don't mean I'm ready to hear him put a label on their relationship."

He was trying not to sound bitter, but it wasn't passing off too well. Luckily, Roman was right there with him. He grabbed his hand and squeezed, "Yeah, baby," he sighed, "It'll take time, but I guess eventually... we'll get used to the fact that Enzo and Corey are-"

"Ro." he stopped him, "If I ain't ready to hear Enzo say it, I sure as hell ain't ready to hear you say it."

Roman let out a sad smile, squeezing Dean's hand again, "Come on. we're supposed to be watching the waffle goo, right?" he stood up heavily, making his way to the counter, "We should actually get these started, show him we can actually do something in the kitchen."

Roman grabbed the big bowl of waffle batter and made towards the plugged in waffle iron, "We could do this easily enough, right?"

Dean snorted at him, "Ro, that's the egg goo. Not the waffle."

Roman frowned at the bowel. Seeing now that it was a lot more yellow that he thought it should be. He sighed.

"He's right, I'd burn this place down."

Not long after, the house was as loud as it usually was. Everyone had migrated from their rooms to the never-used dining room, where the table was set with dishes and table things that Jey didn't even know he owned.

Those who hadn't yet seen what Enzo could do in the kitchen found it hard to muffle their shock when they saw the elaborate breakfast he had made. Roman and Dean had tried to claim that they had helped, but everyone knew better.

Enzo had called Corey and Leah and told them to be there, but had been a bit surprised to find that they arrived together. Corey of course arrived in a full suit, while Leah was sporting bright pajamas. Enzo was surprised to find that Carmella had actually stayed over. How that had happened, he didn't know, but he had a feeling there was a lot he was missing. Especially when he noticed that 'Mella and Naomi weren't at each others throats as much as he thought they'd be.

Those two couldn't agree on a single. Obviously something had happened to change that.

Enzo wondered what it could be.

Soon, everyone, bar the still sleeping Jojo, was sitting at the table and ready to start digging in. When Enzo stopped them.

"Wait wait. before, you all start eating I just... I wanna say something quick."

Everyone put their cutlery down, Jimmy and Leah quite reluctantly, as they looked up at the nervous looking Enzo. Once all the attention was on him, Enzo cleared his throat.

"Uh okay. I just... I.. uh... basically I just." he swallowed, "I wanted to just... uh... say, like... thank you. To... to all of you."

There were smiles and grins all around the table, and Enzo smiled back.

"I mean, last night was kinda the worst night of my life," he shrugged, "I mean that's gotta be the worst beating I've ever taken. Ever. And that's sayin' something 'cause I'm kinda used to getting beat up, as we all know. Matter of fact, I get beat up a lot. All the time. But last night was like.. holy shit, you know?"

The looks around the table had kinda lost their smiles, but Enzo's hadn't.

"But I still won. I mean, it wasn't easy but... I won. And it was all because of you guys."

"Aw, c'mon 'Zo, you don't-"

"Shh." Gina shushed Roman, "Let him speak."

Enzo chuckled, "Honestly, I would've given up a long time ago last night if it weren't for all of you. Never mind actually getting a win. So I wanted to say thank you."

"You're very welcome," Leah smiled as she made to pick up her fork again, but was stopped, because Enzo wasn't done.

"And not just that, I mean the fact that it was Cass I beat after everything he did and said to me... it just felt great beating him with a family in my corner, you know? Kinda felt good slapping him in the face with that, so again... thank you. All of you."

Enzo took a breath as he finished, and everyone smiled at him. The somber moment was interrupted when there was a loud hiccup. Everyone turned to Jimmy, who was wiping at fake tears on his face,

"That was beautiful, Amore," he sighed.

"Look at you making me soft," Jey simpered pretending to blow his nose on the edge of the table cloth.

Roman punched the closest twin to him on the shoulder while the others chuckled lightly. Enzo glared at them, "Guys! I'm tryna do a thing here!"

"Yeah, and it's weird," Carmella shrugged, "I thought guys did shit like slapping shoulders and grabbing beers. Not giving girly speeches while the food gets cold."

"Maybe he's still high!" Leah suggested helpfully.

"Hey!" Enzo exclaimed.

"Well you were pretty out of it last night. These may be the lasting effects of so much morphine. You say lots of shit when you're on morphine."

"Who told you about the morphine?"

"Corey did." shrugged Leah, before seeing the glare he sent her way, "I mean... no one did. I guessed. I'm good at guessing."

"Corey, what the fuck!"

"Okay, let's not yell," Corey put his hands up, "You're still supposed to be thanking everyone right?"

"Yeah well you've all ruined it now!" Enzo huffed, crossing his arms at the laughs around the table.

"Oh come on, honey, you know they're shitting around with you," said Naomi, "I for one, love girly speeches."

"Would ya stop calling it a girly speech! I was being all thankful and stuff."

"And it was adorable," simpered Seth.

"It was touching and heartfelt," Roman stopped her firmly, trying to fight off a smile.

"Yeah," Dean clapped Enzo on the back, he too choking back a chuckle, "Thank you Enzo, we appreciate it."

He just rolled his eyes, and Gina finally quietened everyone down, Jimmy and Jey finally stopping their phony crying, "What we're trying to say Enzo, is that we love you too."

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah you can all go to hell," he sat down with a huff and everyone started off laughing again, "Now eat your damn food before it gets cold."

:::

The breakfast was devoured, all the while, chatter around the table didn't stop. Corey ate faster than everyone else. It wasn't really his intention, but everyone else was eating and _talking._ Something he wasn't too keen on doing.

Leah kept trying to rope him into conversations, but Corey was very good at deflecting. It was easy considering no one else was really trying to get him to talk anyway. It was obvious they were all kind of wondering what the hell he was doing here. He wouldn't have come if he could have helped it, but Enzo had asked him to so... well, here he was.

Plus, Leah could be very convincing. Especially when she threatened to start crying on his behalf again.

Surprisingly enough, the only other people besides Leah and Enzo who gave his existence any kind of positive acknowledgement were Ambrose and Reigns. To say Corey was uncomfortable was a gross understatement.

Corey spent half the time pushing food around on his plate, and when it looked like everyone was about done, he excused himself from the table, asking for directions to the bathroom. He really just wanted to hide in there until he could go but the door was pushed open behind him just before he could shut it.

"What are you-"

"Sorry to barge in on you," Enzo shrugged as he barged in.

"You should go back to your party."

"It's just breakfast," Enzo rolled his eyes, "Now listen, apparently I was hopped up on drugs last night in the hospital. They said you were there."

"Yep. I was there."

"Well what happened?" he whispered, leaning in, "What did I... did... did In say something? Did I do something? I'm really stupid when I'm high on morphine, so I must've said some dumb shit, right? Did I say dumb shit?"

Corey looked at him as his eyes widened, "You don't remember anything?"

Enzo shook his head, "Not a thing. Dean and Roman won't really tell me specifics and... shit please tell me I didn't say anything as dumb as I'm thinking."

Corey sighed, and leaned against the sink, "Oh you said dumb shit.. Lots of it."

Enzo looked horrified.

"Yeah, you talked a lot about how pretty Dean's eyes are. And also about how Roman's hair makes you faint. And, well, you mentioned how much you loved them quite a few times. Yeah, you said that a lot. You used the word pretty. A lot. Like, a whole lot. You mentioned how cute their butts were. Oh, I remember you talking about their-"

"Oh my god, please tell me you're joking." Enzo looked like he was about to cry.

Corey sighed at him, "Nope. I'm dead serious, you should ask them."

Enzo made some animalistic sounds that he probably thought were words, so Corey finally had some pity.

"But don't worry, They don't yet know about your little obsession."

Enzo sighed at him, leaning back against he door in relief, "it's obsession now?"

"You should have heard yourself last night, it was pretty obsessive."

Enzo just snorted and rolled his eyes, "Well why don't they know if I was being so 'obsessive'?

Corey hated that he had to swallow hard before he answered, "I deflected," he said, "Made them think you were talking to me."

Enzo's eyebrows shot up, "Seriously?" he chuckled.

Corey nodded, "Seriously."

Enzo laughed again, "So you made them think that... that I'm in love with you?"

Corey tried not to stiffen at the laugh, "Yep."

Enzo just shook his head, "And they believe it?" he snorted again.

Corey just shrugged, "By now they probably think we're making out in here."

Enzo let out a breathy sigh of relief, "Well that's pretty damn dumb. How could they honestly believe that. I could hardly get you to be my friend. They really think I could get you to fall in love with me?" he laughed again, shaking his head.

He turned around, hand on the doorknob. "Well you finish up in here, Im'ma go check if Jojo's awake yet and get back to the food." Before he opened the door, Enzo turned back around, "Listen man, thanks. You saved my ass back there. It'd be real hard to explain away obsessive rants if you weren't there."

He gave him one last smile before stepping outside again.

Corey stood in the bathroom for a while after that, watching the door he'd left. He swallowed hard and sat down on the edge of the bathtub and tried not to think about the conversation he'd just had.

Not surprisingly, it didn't come easy.

:::

When Corey left the table, with Enzo following quickly after, the table chatter dwindled to silence. Dean and Roman couldn't help but stare after them at the empty hallway. Dean grabbed Roman's hand under the table, and Roman squeezed back tightly. God knew they needed it.

They wondered what they were doing in there. What they were talking about? What Enzo was saying to Corey?

Was he getting a private thank you? Reserved just for him? Was Enzo saying more or less the same things he'd said at the hospital? This time when he was actually aware enough? Were they-

"Oh for the love of god, that's enough!"

Heads snapped to Gina, who was glaring daggers at Dean and Roman.

"I have had enough! I've had it with you two and your longing, pitiful little stares every time his back is turned. You've got to stop!

Roman blinked at her, surprised at the outburst, "We're not staring at him longing-"

"Oh please, yes you are," she scoffed, "You're staring at that hallway like homeless little puppies! It's so fucking obvious that you're in love with that man and you're just gonna sit there and watch him all docile and pathetic for the rest of your lives!"

"No!" exclaimed Roman, "We're not being pathetic and docile, okay! That's not what we're doing!"

Dean glanced at him from the side of his eye, "I thought we agreed that that's exactly what we're doing." he said quietly.

"Shh," Roman hissed, "We don't say that in front of them."

"We can fucking hear you!" now it was Jimmy glaring, as he threw his hands up, "My god, what is wrong with you guys? You can't honestly tell me that you're just gonna let this go."

"That's exactly what we plan to do." nodded Dean.

"No!" Seth cut in, "You can't!"

"We have to." Roman said dryly.

"So what, you don't love him anymore?" Carmella asked.

Dean and Roman almost scoffed at that, "Of course we do." Roman said quietly, "How the hell could we not?"

"Then how can you just give up like this?" Seth slammed a fist on the table, "You guys need to tell him how you feel!"

"What is it with you people!" Dean snapped, "Why are you all acting like this is the easiest thing in the world? This is fucked up! Us having feelings for Enzo is so fucked up and you're acting like just telling him is the easiest thing in the world! It's not!"

"It is." Gina said through gritted teeth, "If you'd just get off your asses and do something about your feelings you'd see that it really is very easy."

"Yeah." nodded Jey, "So could you just fucking tell him you love him already?"

"No!" Roman said firmly, "We're not going to do anything. We're not going to say anything, so just let it go! Alright?"

"Roman-"

"He said let it go." Dean said through his teeth, "You guys don't get it."

"We get a whole lot more than you do, believe me," glared Jey.

"You weren't there." snapped Dean, "You weren't there when he was talking to Graves like..." he shook his head as he swallowed hard, unable to continue.

"Like what?" asked Naomi.

"Yeah, what are you talking 'bout?" frowned Carmella.

Dean just shook his head, and Roman sighed.

"When we went away in the ambulance after his match. They pumped him full of morphine and he spent the whole time talking to Graves and telling him how much he..." he had to pause and swallow the lump down his throat, "You weren't in that hospital room, okay? You're not the ones who had to sit there and watch those two together, okay? So what's the point of telling him how we feel when he's already in love with someone else?"

The silence in the room was nearly tangible as the others stared at the sad men in front of them. By now all of them were wondering if keeping the secrets of both parties was even worth it at the moment. Seeing how sad Roman and Dean looked, it seemed to be doing more harm than good.

"If being in that hospital room was so bad, why did you stay?" Leah spoke up for the first time.

Dean hardly looked up as scoffed, "How the hell were we supposed to leave? He was lying in that bed in pain and drugged out of his mind. How the hell were we suppose to leave?"

"But he had Corey." she said again. By now the rest of the table was staring at her with frowns, wondering why she was even mentioning Corey. But Leah had her own agenda, "if he had Corey and he was talking to Corey and you guys were getting all hurt, why'd you stay?"

Roman looked at her like he didn't understand the question, "we're his friends," he said, "and he asked us to stay. And as his... friends, it's our job to stay and listen to him fawn over some other guy he loves even though all I really wanted to do was run the hell out of there and break something."

"But... but you didn't." said Seth quietly.

"We couldn't," Dean shrugged weakly, "He wanted us there so how the hell were we supposed to leave?"

It was hard to find an answer for them there, and the table just looked at their plates, shuffling forkfuls around. Gina eventually shook her head, "So this is it then? You guys are just gonna stop?"

Roman almost shrank back at how disappointed she looked. It was obvious that she didn't approve of their backing down, but what else were they supposed to do?

"Gina," he said quietly, "In that room, Enzo was saying every single thing I wanted to hear from him," Roman looked down at his and Dean's intertwined hands, "He was saying everything I wanted to say back to him. And he wasn't even saying these thing to us. He was saying them to Graves. So if he feels for Graves even half of what we feel for him, then it's our job as his friends to let him be fucking happy."

"But it's fucking breaking you." Naomi said through gritted teeth, "You look like shit just talking about it."

"So what?" Dean shrugged, "If he's happy, we're happy."

"You don't look happy." muttered Seth.

Roman shrugged, "Fake it till you make it, right?"

The table quietened down, almost to the point of being awkward. And that's when Enzo came back bursting from the hallway. He immediately noticed the tension at the table.

"O-kay..." he said slowly, "what did I miss?"

Roman smiled up at him, a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, "We're deciding on who has to do the dishes."

"Uh huh. And we lost." Dean said, standing up quickly. He went around the table grabbing plates, and ignoring some protests of 'but I'm not done'. He disappeared into the kitchen quickly, and Roman stood up slowly, smiling tightly at the table before following after him.

Enzo frowned after them for a few seconds, before deciding that he didn't believe that they'd be in such a hurry to do dishes. He made to follow after them, but then someone stepped in front of them.

"Nope, you stay the fuck here," said Leah, "Your plate's not empty yet."

She pushed him down to his chair, shoving a tray of bacon in front of him, "There, eat. I'll go help with dishes. Which I love doing."

She smiled at him tightly and then hurried off towards Dean and Roman in the kitchen.

Enzo looked back at the table, wanting to see if anyone else was finding this weird.

"Why's your sister so weird?" Seth perked up, hoping to break the tension.

Luckily it worked, and Enzo scoffed, "Where do I fucking start."

:::

When Leah walked into the kitchen, Dean and Roman were sitting on the kitchen chairs next to each other with their elbows on the table and just looking plain miserable.

She cleared her throat, causing the boys to snap their eyes open and look at her.

"This sure doesn't look like doing the dishes." she said quietly.

"Leah," Roman spoke first, "Uh yeah. We were still getting to that."

"No we weren't," Dean said, more honestly, "We just came here to sulk."

"Yeah I see that," she scoffed.

Roman snorted back, and then sighed softly, "You uh... you're probably kinda confused about what's going on..."

"You mean the you guys being in love with Enzo thing? No, I ain't confused."

The two looked at each other blinking, and then back at Leah.

"Alright, who told you." sighed Dean.

"Gina." she shrugged, "but even if she didn't, that little blow up back there told me all I needed to know."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Roman sighed, "That's not really how family breakfasts go."

Leah just chuckled, "Are you kidding? That's exactly how family meals usually go. Plus, there was a whole lot of yelling at last night's meeting too. I'm used to it."

"Meeting?" Roman raised an eyebrow, "What meeting?"

Leah cleared her throat, "Uh... nothing. No meeting. That just came out of my mouth by accident."

"Uh... sure." Dean said slowly.

"Anyway," Roman continued, "You can just pretend that you didn't hear any of that." Roman said as he leaned back in his chair, "And we'd rather you didn't say anything to Enzo. Please."

"You obviously don't know about my reputation for secret keeping," Leah muttered to herself.

"Your reputation for what?" Dean asked.

Leah just cleared her throat, "Nothing. I said nothing." She turned around, and the boys thought she was leaving, but instead, she just closed the sliding door of the kitchen, and then went to stand by the table in from of Dean and Roman.

"Alright, look." she said, taking a breath, "You guys are like, on my list of favourite people in the world, so my nature tells me to just do everything you want without question no matter what. So me talking to you like this kinda goes against my basic human nature."

The two raised their eyebrows at the statement. Roman opened his eyes to say something, but Leah stuck up her hand, "Nope, I'm talking."

She cleared her throat again, "I can't just pretend I didn't hear everything you guys said in there." They made to protest again, but Leah's hand was still up, "We're talking about my brother here. Lots of people may not think that us being in the same Foster home doesn't count as him being my brother, but I don't care 'cause he is and he deserves all the happiness in the world."

Dean and Roman finally stopped trying to interrupt, but they nodded their agreement, and Leah put her hand down, "You guys really love him." she said.

The two swallowed, and Dean sighed, "Yeah. Yeah, we do."

"But you're willing to just pretend not to?"

Roman shrugged, "We don't seem to have a choice."

Leah looked at them closely for a long time. Dammit, she hated this.

Not too many hours ago, she had been cuddling Corey and feeling bad that she had been a part of trying to get these two to get with Enzo. But now she'd heard Dean and Roman talk about Enzo, and declare that all they cared about was him being happy, even though they looked miserable saying it.

They wanted Enzo to be happy, which was really the main objective here. And they thought that Enzo being happy meant Corey. And for a while, while drinking vodka and whiskey in the hotel room earlier that morning, Leah had hoped that Enzo's happiness might lie with Corey too, but now...

She sighed loudly, crossing her arms, and hoping that Corey would stay her friend after after all of this.

"You can't sit around all docile and pathetic," she finally said out loud.

Roman scoffed, "We can't?"

"You can't." she nodded intensely, "You love him. I haven't even known for 24 hours and it's completely fucking obvious. I mean, you guys jumped out of a shark cage for Enzo. You fucking love him and that's not something you're gonna be able to hide. So you have to say something. You _have_ to."

"We just had this discussion," sighed Dean, not up to fighting anymore.

"Well then it's good that this isn't a discussion," Leah narrowed her eyes at them, "You have to tell him or else you'll regret it forever, you got me?"

They looked up at her as she bore down on them, and they were nodding their heads quickly before they could even think about it.

Leah drew back with a smile, "Good." she nodded, "I'm glad we had this conversation Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns."

She turned around, making her way out, and then she stopped again.

"Just another thing," she said, turning to them. "No matter how much I love you guys, I still have to give you the official sibling warning." she crossed her arms, and lifted her chin, "I want you to know that if you ever hurt my brother in any way at all, I will make it my personal mission to end you. After all, I am very practiced in the art of karate, taekwondo, and... uh... and origami."

Dean and Roman blinked, and then glanced at each other.

"Paper folding?" asked Roman slowly.

Leah sighed as she closed her eyes, "I was hoping you wouldn't know what that was." she muttered, "But I trust you get my point."

They looked at the girl as she glared at them with crossed arms. Despite their conversation, it was hard to take her seriously, considering she was so little, and was decked in very colorful pajamas. But then again, this was the girl who liked being dragged behind motorcycles with nothing but a skateboard and a helmet. So they thought that maybe she wasn't as harmless as she looked.

"We promise," said Dean, "You won't have to use your origami on us."

Leah smiled at that, "I'm glad we're on the same page."

With that, she flashed them a winning grin, gave them a final salute and left them in the kitchen. The two watched after her, before turning to each other.

"So," sighed Dean, "We still going for the whole docile and pathetic?"

Roman let out a loud sigh, and then got to his feet heavily.

"How about we just do the dishes for now." he said, trying his best to deter the question.

"Yeah, you're right. It's way too early for so much decision making anyway."

Roman scoffed, "It's almost noon."

"Like I said, baby," Dean smirked weakly, "Way too early."

:::

 **So guys, this slow burn is killing me. Trust me, I'm just as frustrated as you are at how dumb these guys are being about their feelings.**

 **So who do you think will be the first to finally crack and spew their guts? Will either of these idiots actually speak up, or will Jimmy have to find a small closet to lock them in?**

 **I mean, _I_ know the answer, but I wanna hear what ya'll think. It's fun hearing your guesses/predictions. Plus feedback is really helpful and I get to steal your ideas ;)**

 **Till next time!**

 **Okay byeee.**

 **-Leeh**


	36. Broken Trips

SummerSlam was over, and hopefully, easier times would be ahead. Well, the boys hoped so at least.

They should have known better.

It had been hard enough travelling with Enzo when they had been secretly pining for him, and for some reason, Roman and Dean had assumed that pining for him together would be a little easier.

They were sorely mistaken.

It started on the night of RAW after SummerSlam.

Big Cass hadn't shown up to the show, which was kind of disappointing because Enzo had been looking forward to doing some boasting. But alas, he would have to wait.

Someone who _was_ there, however, was Corey. And it seemed like he was there all the time. In the cafeteria at their table and in the gym when they worked out during breaks and in the locker room with Enzo.

"He's fucking everywhere," Roman had all but pouted while in the gym

"Well that's because you keep inviting him everywhere," Seth helpfully pointed out.

"We're being supportive of their relationship." Dean muttered.

"Supportive of their re..." Seth took a deep breath as he kept himself from yelling, "Are you sure that they're in a relationship?" he said slowly.

"Pretty sure." Roman nodded.

"Did they tell you that?"

"They didn't need to." he said again, "Now can we not talk about this? I need a spotter."

Dean went to stand behind Roman, and Seth rolled his eyes at his idiotic brothers.

The following RAW would take place in Orlando Florida, which, unfortunately for Roman, meant another plane.

"I would have thought jumping out of a shark tank would have cured you from that," Gina had scoffed at him.

"Well there's no Enzo to save in this plane so I doubt that'll help." Seth muttered. For that, he had received two deathly glares, and he had backed away slowly, walking with Jojo as a shield.

The four, with Jojo and Gina, flew to Pensacola, where Roman finally got his beloved truck back. And it was back to the road.

Well, except for Seth. Seth, for some reason, decided that he needed to urgently visit his third cousin, twice removed, who lived just outside Pensacola, and would meet up with them in Orlando later. Truthfully, he just refused to drive for 8 hours in a car with so much sexual tension.

And so they drove. And the joke was on Seth really, because there was no tension at all in the car. At all. You know, if you didn't count the time when Dean went to the backseat to sleep, and his head landed on Enzo's lap. Or when Enzo coerced Roman into playing a game of 'I spy', where Enzo described things in very questionable ways.

For example, "It's a long, thick, hard, shaft like thing, Roman."

"Think... wood, Roman."

"It's fun to climb, Roman."

"It's hard and erect, Roman."

Roman had spent the time holding in drool, and was too busy trying not to think about his own 'long, thick, hard, shaft like thing', to realize that Enzo had been talking about a tree.

He could almost swear that he was doing this on purpose.

When Dean woke up, he had to wonder why Roman looked like he was in pain, and why Enzo was boasting about winning the easiest game of 'I spy' ever.

"Okay, Imma put on some music," Dean leaned over from the back and turned on the radio, syncing the bluetooth to Spotify on his phone. He let it go random, but skipped almost every suggested song. Of course, he should have known that as soon as a really bad song started, Enzo would love it. As soon as 'Waterfalls' started, Enzo yelled out for Dean to stop.

Dean slumped back in the backseat, and Roman glared, "It's your fault for suggesting music," he said.

Enzo pretended not to hear them, and belted out the song as if he was on a stage. After the song ended, Roman risked looking to the backseat of the car.

"How the hell do you always know all the lyrics to every song that comes on?"

"I got a real good memory." he shrugged, "Especially when it comes to music."

"If only it were the right music," Dean sighed dramatically.

As if on cue, a new song started, and Enzo laughed out loud, "I am loving Spotify today!"

Dean groaned and shook his head, "We are not listening to '500 miles'." he said, his voice final.

"Oh come on!" he whined, "You know I love this song!"

"I'm sorry Enzo, I can't allow that song to be played out of my phone," Dean shrugged at him, "it goes against everything I believe in."

Enzo scoffed, "And what exactly do you you believe in?"

"Good music," said Dean as if it were obvious.

"This _is_ good music! Why don't you get how romantic this song is?"

"Because... it's crap," said Dean, pressing down the urge to add a 'duh'.

Enzo narrowed his eyes at him, "Excuse me Mr Smashmouth. Not all our tastes can be as bad as yours."

"'All Star' is a classic!" Dean yelled turning his whole body to Enzo, "I swear to god, don't make me fight you."

Enzo scoffed, "Well if we're fighting about music, I ain't worried," Enzo shrugged, "So bring it on."

"No fighting in the car!" Roman yelled from the front, "Ya'll better not make me come back there."

"He started this!" Enzo yelled.

"I don't care who started it. I'll finish it." Roman said.

The two remained silent, just throwing sideways glares at each other.

Roman sighed, "Now, I think we can all agree that there was no winner here, okay? Both your tastes are equally awful, and we'll leave it at that."

That started another onslaught of yells, this time directed at Roman, and he smiled to himself in the front. It was fun making them mad. Relief from being scolded finally came when Roman grinned.

"Tunnel!" he yelled, stopping the car, "You two get the hell out."

Enzo's offended gasp was hilarious, and it was obvious that Dean was conflicted. He didn't want to go outside anymore, just to spite Roman. But... how the hell could he miss a tunnel?

In the end, he stuck his tongue out, in a very mature way, and stormed out of the car and into the back. As Roman started driving, he went on Dean's phone to play _his_ type of music, and blasted it as loud as he could.

He laughed out loud when he heard the groans at the back of the truck. Screw these guys, Ed Sheeran was awesome.

In the back, Dean and Enzo were standing with their arms on the front of the truck, determined not to enjoy this. Because they so did _not_ like Ed Sheeran. Nope. Not at all.

Enzo hoped Dean wouldn't notice that he had started bopping his head along with the song. He cleared his throat, as he tried to stop himself, but the beat was kinda awesome, and he almost couldn't help himself. He glanced sideways a little, to make sure that Dean wasn't seeing him. To his surprise Dean was already looking at him, and was mouthing along to the song too.

"Okay, so you also don't hate it?" Dean said quickly.

Enzo chuckled as he shook his head, "Damn it, I don't."

"Roman will never let us hear the end of it if we turned out to like his music," Dean groaned, his head still moving with the beat.

"Oh hell no." Enzo shook his head, "But it's cool. What Roman don't know won't hurt him, right?"

Dean nodded quickly, "So we don't have to pretend not to like it out here."

"What are you talking about?" Enzo scoffed, "I don't like this. I just... don't really hate it."

"Yeah," Dean nodded quickly, "Right. Yeah, me too."

The two looked straight ahead again, mouthing silently and tapping their feet, determined not to enjoy it. Until that it, the chorus came, and Enzo couldn't help himself, and he let it out.

 _Baby I'm_

 _Daaaancing in the Dark!_

 _With you between my arms_

 _Baaaarefoot on the Grass!_

Dean threw his hands up, following suit.

 _Listening_ _to our favorite song_

 _When you saaaid you looked a mess_

 _I Whispered underneath my breath_

 _But you heard it_

 _Darling you look Perfect Tonight!_

Their screaming singing probably didn't sound too great, but they were too into it to care. They sang the song that they absolutely did not actually like, word for word and perfectly in tune, with harmonies and thrown up arms and everything. They were having so much fun they didn't even have time to be embarrassed. When the song ended with a flourish, Dean and Enzo breathed heavily, their wind chaffed faces red and grinning.

"Not a word of this to Roman," Dean huffed immediately.

"Oh hell no." Enzo agreed, "He'd never let us hear the end of it. Besides, we don't even like that song."

"Exactly." Dean nodded. They shook on it, and were all ready to go back to just facing the wind quietly, but then another song started, and Enzo gasped. He turned to Dean slowly.

"You know, I don't hate this song that much either."

Dean grinned, "Neither do I!"

And so started another heated duet of Ed Sheeran's 'Thinking Out Loud'. Even though they didn't actually like the song because it was totally just for sissies.

The two were disappointed when the tunnel ended and they had to go back inside.

"He didn't hear us right?" asked Enzo ad he dismounted.

"Nah, we weren't that loud." shrugged Dean.

The two went into the car, happy that their secret Ed Sheeran burst would remain a secret. When there was no comment from Roman, they were sure that they were safe. They kept on driving, with more arguing about music, which then led to arguing about everything.

A lot of the time was spent with Enzo and Dean ganging up on Roman, and he got back at them by making sure to not make any pit stops. No matter how much the two complained about their bodies cramping.

Roman was determined to make them suffer a bit more, but he was finally worn down, and stopped at an empty looking gas station with a questionable looking diner. He really didn't want to stop, but if he kept driving he was positive that Dean and Enzo would rip the wheel out of his hands.

As soon as the car came to a halt, Dean jumped out and ran, straight to the bathroom.

Roman and Enzo weren't in such a hurry. Roman frowned before they left the car. He didn't want to say anything, and he tried to keep his mouth shut, but he couldn't help himself.

"Are... aren't you gonna change?"

Enzo looked down at himself, and then back at Roman, "Nah."

"Are you sure?" Roman couldn't help but ask."

Enzo frowned at him, "What, you don't like it?"

"Oh no, I do!" Roman said quickly, '"Just... ain't you gonna get cold?"

Enzo just scoffed as he shut the door behind him, "My blood is made of lava, Reigns. I don't get cold."

Enzo walked towards the diner, expecting Roman to follow. Roman wanted to talk a bit more about Enzo's attire, but he just shut his mouth, and followed, trying hard not to stare at him too much.

Inside, the diner was very empty, only a single waiter and one couple in a far off booth. Enzo had already made himself comfortable in a corner booth, his arms spread out to his sides as he waited.

Once Roman sat down, the waiter came with two menus.

"Thanks, we're gonna wait for someone for a couple minutes," Roman smiled at him.

The guy nodded, and walked away slowly, but his eyes never left the table. At all.

Enzo noticed immediately.

"I think that guy is checking me out," He muttered as his eyes narrowed at the counter.

Roman quickly turned to where Enzo was looking, and the waiter looked away quickly. But still, every few seconds he would look back at their table, and at Enzo, with knitted eyebrows.

"Oh yeah. He's definitely checking me out."

"Or," shrugged Roman, "He just recognizes you as a WWE Superstar. We get stared at all the time, you know that."

"Yeah well, then he'd be staring at both of us. Not just me."

The guy glanced Enzo's way again, and then looked away.

"Uh huh. Yeah. He wants some of this." he smirked.

"Enzo-" sighed Roman.

"Well then why else would he be staring?"

"Maybe it's cause you're wearing a harness." shrugged Roman, finally getting it out, "And, you know... nothing else."

Enzo narrowed his eyes at him, "Come on, don't say 'nothing else' like that. I'm totally wearing pants too."

"Yeah but I'm pretty sure you should be wearing something under the harness too," Roman said, "I don't know. Just... maybe."

Enzo narrowed his eyes at Roman, "There ain't nothing wrong with my harness."

"I'm not saying there is!" Roman held his hands up, "I'm just saying... maybe that's why he's staring."

"Or." Enzo said firmly, "I'm getting checked out. I'm a hot person Roman. People check me out."

Roman didn't know how to reply to that. He knew it was true. He personally checked Enzo out a lot more than was healthy. The only person who matched him in the 'checking Enzo out' department was Dean.

So Roman knew just how hot Enzo was. He just didn't quite like the fact that this waiter guy was looking. But he certainly couldn't say any of this out loud, obviously.

He let out a sigh, "Enzo, I'm just saying. The harness might just be-"

Enzo slapped his menu down, "Is it really that hard to believe that he might just find me hot?"

"I'm not saying he doesn't!" Roman insisted.

"Just not enough to actually care about my face instead of my weird clothes?"

"What?" Roman spluttered, "That's not what I-"

"What, Reigns, is it really that hard to believe that someone might just find me attractive?" Enzo didn't know why he was suddenly so angry. He knew that Roman was right about the harness probably being the cause of the staring, but for some reason, the fact that he had brought it up was making him fume.

"Enzo that's not what I'm saying!" Roman tried to speak up, but Enzo was on a rant.

"Well then what are you saying? Huh?" Enzo spat, "Why are you making it such a point to let me know that that guy ain't interested in me?

"Look, okay you're right. That guy probably was checking you out," he finally said, "But... but he shouldn't be!'

Enzo scoffed loudly, "And why the hell not?"

Roman spluttered, obviously unable to tell the truth. He certainly couldn't tell Enzo that he was jealous of some random guy because he was staring at Enzo. Whether because of the harness that completely showed off his body, or because he was actually checking him out. Either way, he was staring, and Roman didn't like it.

He was aware that thinking like a jealous possessive boyfriend was far from okay, but he really had a hard time keeping that in check. Like right now.

He swallowed when he realized that he had been quiet for too long.

"Because of Corey!" Roman finally got out.

Enzo looked at him, his expression pissed and kinda confused, "Corey?" he scoffed, "What about Corey?"

"Well," Roman glared, glad he had found an excuse that kinda made sense, "You two are together. You shouldn't be worried about other people finding you hot when you already have a boyfriend." Roman almost winced as he said it, knowing what a hypocrite he was.

Enzo looked at him with the same expression, "Are you fucking kidding me?" he said.

Roman stuck his nose up, "I'm serious... You gotta start acting like you're actually in a relationship Enzo, or else-"

"Oh for the love of god." Enzo leaned back in his seat, "Are you fucking listening to yourself?"

Roman blinked at him, "I-"

"Alright Reigns, listen to me and listen good. I. Am not. With Corey. He's a good friend who I sometimes fuck, and that's all. Not that any of that is your business."

Roman blinked at him some more, "but... but he said."

"I doubt he said much of anything." Enzo interrupted, "I'm not with Corey. I'm not with anyone."

"But... but then why-"

"Corey ain't the one I'm in love with for fucks sake!" he exploded, "Are you gonna get that through you're head?!"

The silence at the table was almost tangible as Enzo glared at Roman, and Roman stared back with wide eyes. He'd never had a fight like this with Enzo. He'd never seen him so mad at him. And he knew that it was his fault entirely.

"Enzo..."

"No, just forget it," Enzo waves his hand, "I get it. I get that I'm just the third wheeling friend around here who's expected to always be alone and sad and-"

"No you're not!" Roman tried to speak over him, "You _know_ you're not!"

"Of course I am," Enzo said through gritted teeth, "But I'm more than your ugly friend who's only around to boost your egos, alright? I'm capable of having people look at me for more than the fact that sometimes I wear a harness. I'm more than my weird. remember? You guys are the ones who keep telling me that, so how about you actually act like you mean it!"

With that, Enzo kicked away from the table and got up, storming out of the diner and towards the car.

Roman was left at the table by himself, staring after him with wide eyes as he left. Not a minute later, Dean came to the table, and was surprised to see that Roman was alone.

"Where's Enzo?" he asked, as he sat down, "Ya'll didn't order without me did you?"

Roman just shook his head slightly.

"We, uh... we had a fight. I think."

Dean frowned, "About what?"

Roman held his head in his hands, "I was an idiot, and he called me out on it," he sighed. He told Dean what had happened, and Dean's sighed at him as he finished.

"Well shit. He... he said all that?"

"Uh huh."

"But we... we don't treat him like that. Do we? Is... is that how he always feels?"

Roman swallowed, and shrugged, "I don't know. But if it is, then we're really crappy friends."

Enzo felt like a really crappy friend. He was in the back of the truck, laying down and glaring at the clouds.

He felt like shit for yelling at Roman like that. For basically no reason. It was just a lot of boiled up tension just finally exploding out of him after so long, and he hated that he'd exploded at Roman, who had done nothing but try to protest his so called relationship with Corey.

Right? That's what he had been trying to do, right? He didn't actually think Enzo was incapable of being attractive, right? Is that what they thought?

The thought was like a stab in his chest. Sure, he knew that his love for Roman and Dean was probably the dumbest thing a person could feel, ever, and there was a zero percent chance of Dean and Roman looking at him as anything but a friend, but he had been kinda holding onto the hope that hopefully, they didn't find him totally disgusting. And now...

He let out a long sigh and he threw an arm over his eyes.

Well, way to ruin a perfectly good road trip,

Enzo hadn't even been alone for another five minutes when he started hearing footsteps coming towards the truck. He was hoping that the footsteps would lead to the doors, and the two would just get in the car and keep going.

But of course, things never turned out the way Enzo wanted them to, so instead they stopped at the back of the truck, only a foot away from him. Enzo didn't move, hoping that his silence would be a hint enough for them to leave him alone for a while. But they just stood there.

Enzo could practically hear them talking through looks as he just lay there. He really did not want to talk right now.

He hoped they weren't silently discussing ways to get rid of him the quickest. Roman had no doubt told Dean about Enzo's blow up, so now he had to do some double avoiding

Great, now he'd ruined their early dinner too.

The silence was only broken by loud sighs and clearing throats, and loud signs again, obviously trying to get Enzo's attention.

He opted to stay silent and let them tire themselves out until they decided to leave him alone and get back into the car and be the perfect couple while Enzo stayed on the outside, alone and in his harness that was actually making him quite cold now.

Dammit, Roman had been right about that.

The fact only made Enzo angrier, and he clenched his jaw shut. Could they just go already and leave him to sulk?

But, as usual, things didn't quite go Enzo's way.

There was finally one final loud sigh, and Dean's voice spoke up.

"Enzo?"

There was silence, again, as Enzo ignored them.

"Are... are you awake?"

Still Enzo said nothing. The two glanced at each other, and then Dean sighed again, "Uh... not for nothing, but... do you wanna put on a shirt?"

Before the words were even out of his mouth, Roman slapped Dean's arm and gave him a look of exasperation. Dean glared back.

"It's hard to concentrate when he's basically topless!" he mouthed, in a yell. Roman couldn't help but agree, but still. That was the worse thing to say at that moment. And sure enough, Enzo's arm finally moved away from his face, and his face was in a snarl, "Are you fucking kidding me?" Enzo said slowly.

"He only means because it's getting cold," Roman said quickly, "You don't need a shirt, you're perfect like this."

Enzo's face didn't change, and Roman rubbed a hand over his face and send a quick glare to Dean, who just shrugged apologetically.

"Look Enzo, I'm sorry." he all but slumped over the edge of the truck, "I'm an idiot who doesn't know when to shut his mouth, okay? But I swear, I wasn't trying to be a jerk or anything."

"It just happens naturally sometimes," Dean interjected helpfully.

Roman stared at him, wide eyes and exasperated, and Dean just motioned for him to carry on.

Roman turned back to Enzo, "Zo, I didn't mean to make you mad or hurt your feelings or none of that. And I love your harness! Seriously I do."

Enzo scoffed, and threw his arm back over his eyes.

"You're blowing this," Dean said.

"You need to shut up," Roman snarled at him. He looked back at Enzo, and spoke with a much softer voice, "Come on, Zo. Please don't be mad at me."

"I ain't mad," he muttered under his arm.

Dean winced, "Oh he's mad," he said quietly.

"I can see that Dean," Roman hissed. Again, he turned back to Enzo.

"Look, I had no right to even comment about the guy who was checking you out. And I know your relationship... or whatever... with Graves is none of my business, and I shouldn't comment on whoever checks you out. And fuck man, you _know_ you're not a fucking third wheel. I mean, if you don't know that by now, then we're just doing a shitty job at being friends."

"Uh... 'we'?" Dean interjected, "I was in the bathroom I have nothing to do with this."

Roman glared, "Gee, thanks, Ambrose."

"No problem," Dean smiled, "Carry on."

Roman fought off a glare and turned his attention back to Enzo, "And I didn't mean to make it sound like that guy wasn't checking you out. He probably was, I mean, he had every reason to. And like I said, I really do like your harness. I mean...you know how I feel about safety."

Dean made a face, "Was that supposed to be a joke, Ro?"

"Dude, could you _not_!" he snapped.

Dean held his hands up and motioned for him to keep going, "Anyway. I'm serious, I think it looks great on you. I just didn't want you to be half naked. You know, in case you got cold in there." Well, it was _half_ true, "And if that dude was looking at you just because of the harness, screw him because either way he's _so_ not good enough for-"

"Okay, backtrack a bit." said Dean.

"Right." Roman cleared his throat, "What I mean is... I suck, okay. I stick my my nose in where I shouldn't, and I suck."

"There you go," Dean patted his back, "That's accurate."

"Dean!"

"What? I'm just agreeing with what you're saying! I'm helping!"

Roman just glared at him, and turned back to Enzo, who was still not looking at them, but Roman was sure he could see his mouth twitching a bit.

Right. figures that he'd appreciate Dean's commentary over Roman's weak ass apology. But still, if he wasn't mad, Roman was happy. He glanced at Dean, and saw that he too had noticed the half smile.

"Think he's still mad?" Dean whispered loudly on purpose.

"I don't know," Roman's whisper was just as loud.

"You know, when Jojo ignores us, tickling usually works."

There was finally a scoff under Enzo's arm, "I'm not a child, tickling ain't gonna do shit."

"Yeah that's what Jojo says," shrugged Dean.

Enzo just scoffed, "Well I ain't even ticklish anyway."

He kept on ignoring until he felt a hand on his side, and he finally sat up, jumping away from the touch.

"That don't mean you gotta check!"

Roman grinned in triumph when Enzo was finally looking at him, "Alright fine, I believe you." he sobered down with a sigh.

"Look, I really am sorry, Enzo."

Enzo shrugged, "Yeah I know. Me too. Shouldn't have blown up like that."

"Yeah you should have. I was being stupid."

"Well..." Enzo shrugged, "Yeah."

Dean laughed, and Roman just sighed through his smile, "Alright, is everyone done ganging up on me?"

"Not even close," Dean threw an arm over Roman and smacking a kiss on his cheek.

Enzo sat comfortably in the back, "Well, at least we all learned a valuable lesson here today."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"That my harness is really hot."

 _It really is. That's the main problem._ Roman wanted to say. Instead, he forced out a laugh, "Yeah it is."

He pushed away from the truck. "Now, are we still gonna get some lunch in there?"

Enzo shrugged, "If you guys want to."

"I'm not that hungry anymore." said Dean, "We can just pick something up before we get home. Plus this place is dodgy. There's so many dead flies in the bathroom."

"So back to the road then." said Enzo.

"Alright kids, pack in," said Roman.

"I think I'll stay back here a while," He lay back down, "Enjoy the scenery."

"That's what windows are for," scoffed Roman, but Enzo just narrowed his eyes at him.

"You're so damn modernized," he sighed at him sadly, "Can't even appreciate a drive without windows."

"Well maybe I'd actually do some appreciating if I wasn't the only decent driver around here," he pointed out.

"Alright kids, stop your arguing," Dean held his hand up, feeling all grown up, "Now lets hit the road already. Zo, you want some company back here?" he jumped in before he could get an answer.

"Yeah Dean, join him," Roman smirked, "You two can sing some more Ed Sheeran duets."

The other two froze, and Roman's grin widened.

"I... I don't know what you're talking about," Enzo said quickly.

"Yeah man, what are you talking about?"

Roman just threw his head back and laughed, making his way to the drivers seat, "I think ya'll sounded beautiful."

"Fuck, if you could hear us why didn't you say anything?' Enzo fumed as Roman laughed.

"You thought about taking it to Broadway?" he mocked again.

"Shut the fuck up," Dean glared at him, "It's not like we _liked_ the song."

"Of course we didn't _like_ the song," Enzo agreed, trying not to sound too defensive.

"Yeah I know, you _loved_ it." Roman's grin was insatiable.

"That's bullshit!"

"We did not!"

"Why the hell would we like that? Who names a song something like 'Perfect' for god's sake," Enzo spat defensively,

"Or 'Thinking Out Loud?" Dean agreed, "Those are such dumb cliche' titles. I mean... they're so dumb."

"But you sang them beautifully," Roman kept going, "I could really hear the music in your voices."

"Shut up Roman," Dean said through gritted teeth.

"It's like I could _feel_ the lyrics."

"Roman shut up," Enzo glared.

"Your love for my music just radiated from your-"

"Roman shut up!"

He didn't stop laughing as he finally got into the car, "I'll make sure to crank it up even higher this time," he yelled back at them.

Dean and Roman just glared, all but pouting as the car roared to life, along with the radio. Only a few seconds later, Roman had picked out a song. Enzo immediately recognized it as Taylor Swift.

"Are you fucking kidding me with this?" Dean grumbled.

"He's torturing us on purpose," said Enzo, "With this terrible, terrible music."

"Because it is terrible." nodded Dean.

"So terrible."

They sat in silence as the car sped up, and the music played on.

"I mean, what kind of person names their song 'Love Story'?"

"A person with terrible music," said Dean, "that's who."

"Truly terrible." Enzo nodded curtly.

The two seemed determined not to give into Roman's obviously terrible music, but not half a minute later, Roman's grin was wide as he heard two voices belting out about Romeo. He leaned back against the headrest, content as he drove. He could do this forever. Just him behind the wheel of an open road, listening to his boys singing louder than the radio.

His boys.

God, he loved the sound of that.

Despite the fact that his heart still ached from the fact that Enzo wasn't _his_ as he would have liked him to be, this... this was still good. Just having him was good.

It was enough.

Right?

Right. He nodded at himself. The fight in the Diner had made him realize that.

He couldn't keep treating Enzo like he was his. His jealousy and possessiveness over Dean was far from okay, he knew that. It was even more unacceptable when it came to Enzo, who was just his friend who deserved to be with and look at whoever the hell he wanted without Roman throwing a fit.

He couldn't keep acting like this. It was destructive and stupid and ... and selfish.

Now that he thought about it, he was being really damn selfish. He already had everything he could want in his life. He was in love with a perfect man who loved him just as much. He had a beautiful daughter who he loved with everything he had. He had amazing friends and a great family and... and he was happy. He had everything, and he was happy.

But still, every time he looked at Enzo and knew that he couldn't just kiss whenever he wanted to... he didn't feel so happy.

So obviously there was something wrong with him. Why was he being so selfish? The grin that had been on his face had fast been wiped away, and Roman tried to shake himself out of this dark hole of thoughts he'd let himself fall into. He was finally pulled back when he heard whoops and laughter at the back of his truck as the song ended. Another one started immediately, and the whoops grew louder as Enzo and Dean started singing along to Katy Perry.

His lips stretched into a small smile when he looked in the rear-view mirror and saw that Dean and Enzo were no longer sitting down, and were dancing to 'Firework'.

He had half a mind to stop the car and tell them to sit the fuck down in case they fell out, but he knew they wouldn't listen, and he just couldn't interrupt this performance, so instead he slowed down a little bit. He had to constantly remind himself to look at the road and not stare at the mirror lest he crash.

But he could watch his boys all fucking day.

Wait _no_.

Enzo wasn't his. He had to remember that. And he had no choice but to accept it. And be okay with it.

He and Dean would be okay with it. They could love him from a distance, and it would be okay.

Roman nodded as he convinced himself that what he was saying was true.

No matter how much it broke his heart.


	37. Broken Breath

It was dark when they finally arrived at Enzo's Orlando apartment.

As they got out of the car, Enzo couldn't help but let out a small smile as he remembered the last time they were all here.

Getting rid of all of Cass's clothes. Winning that tag match against him. Drunken dancing with bad music. His first (and thus far _only_ ) guitar lesson with Roman.

And it was here when he first realised that he might have a tiny little crush on Dean and Roman.

Oh, how long ago that now seemed.

He was pulled away from his thoughts when the car doors slammed shut behind him.

"Home sweet Home." sighed Dean as he marched ahead with his bags, leading the way to Enzo's apartment.

"Does he remember the way?" Enzo asked Roman as he frowned after Dean. Roman snorted, "Wait for it."

The two kept clearing out the car, and sure enough, Dean was back after half a minute.

"Get lost?" Enzo tried to hide a smirk.

"No." Dean scoffed defensively, "I just thought I'd wait for you guys. I'm bein' polite."

"Sure you are," Roman smirked at him as he walked away from the car, "Come on baby, we'll show you the way."

Dean stuck his tongue out, in a very mature fashion, but didn't argue as Enzo and Roman walked ahead of him.

As soon as the door of apartment 17 E was open, Enzo was hit by a sudden burst of tiredness.

"How far off is that Pizza?" he sighed as they trudged in.

"Should only be a few minutes now," answered Roman, looking at his watch.

"I hope I don't fall asleep before it gets here," he sighed. The others mumbled their agreement.

Enzo yawned as he made his way to his room to drop everything off.

"Dude your answering machine is blinking like crazy," he heard Dean yell from the living room.

"Can you check who it is?" Enzo called out from his room.

Dean pressed the button, and a very loud voice sounded across the apartment.

 _"Hey Enzo, it's Leah. Dude, I've left you 16 missed calls and you're still completely ignoring me! Now I know you said you don't wanna talk about this, but I do, so just suck it up and answer your phone! But anyway, to update you on the progress that you apparently don't care about, I've been talking to everyone else about your little love situation. I started a Whatsapp group with everyone in it, but so far no one's actually said anything in it except for me. I've called us 'The Council of Amore'. Get it? Cause you're Amore, an Amore means 'love'? Hahaha, I'm so smart!_ _Anyway I know it's not much of a help, but considering who it is you're in love with, anything will do right now. Wow, in love. It doesn't matter how many times I say it, I still can't believe it! I cannot fucking believe that you're actually in love with-"_

The rest of the sentence was cut off, as the answering machine clattered to the floor. Enzo stood above it, staring at it with wide eyes. He had come running from his room, and smashed the thing to pieces just in time. Before Leah said it.

Enzo looked up, and saw Dean and Roman staring at him with wide eyes.

"In love with who?" Roman took a step forward.

"What was she about to say?" Dean almost demanded.

Enzo stared at them, his hands shaking. Holy shit that was close. That was so close.

Too close.

"It... it doesn't matter." he said with a swallow, "It's nothin'." he turned around and scurried off into the kitchen, hoping to pretend to be busy with something, but Dean and Roman followed him immediately, hot on his heels.

They were still asking questions, but the thumping in Enzo's ears kept him from hearing them. He didn't _want_ to hear them.

He eventually made towards the fridge and stuck his had in, pretending to look for something. That worked for a few moments until a hand slammed the fridge shut and Dean's frantic face was right in front of his.

"Enzo, you can't keep doing this."

"Doing what?" he gulped.

"Shutting us out like this!" said Roman behind him. "I know I just promised to stop butting in, but come on, man! Why won't you just tell us this one thing? I mean, by the sound of it, you've told everyone else!"

"Yeah man, there's a fucking _council_." Dean said with a snarl, "A _council_ of people who know who you love, and we aren't in it! What the hell?"

"Enzo come on, please. Why don't you want us to know?"

Enzo stared at them with wide, frightened eyes. How the hell was he going to get out of this one? He'd exhausted all possible lies, and now he had no idea what to say.

He swallowed, "It's not important." he tried again, walking over to the sink so as to distance himself from them as much as possible.

"Well the scared look on your face tells us that it's pretty important" said Dean with narrowed eyes.

"Come on guys, can't you just drop it?" he pleaded, "Just pretend you didn't hear anything?"

"We've _been_ pretending!" shouted Roman, "We've _been_ ignoring the fact that you're so fucking in love with whoever. We thought we knew who it was until earlier, but apparently we were wrong, and we've accepted that you don't want us to know, but now it's just really unfair!"

"Well why do you want to know so bad!" Enzo yelled back, finally moving onto the 'shouting' part of his denial.

"We just do!" Dean yelled back.

"Yeah! Is that so hard to believe that we have an interest on your love life?"

"There is no love life to be interested in!" Enzo threw his hands up.

"Yeah well this message could have had us fooled," glared Roman, "You're in love with someone Enzo, and I don't get why you don't want to tell us."

"Trust me, you don't wanna know," he said through gritted teeth.

"Uh, actually we really do," glared Dean, "Like, a lot. I mean trust me, we've tried guessing. It ain't Carmella."

"Apparently not Balor."

"You keep saying it ain't Graves but-"

"For God's sake it's not Corey!" Enzo snapped.

"Then who is it?"

"It's not-"

"Don't tell us it's not important!" snapped Roman, "We see you looking miserable over whoever the hell this is. We see how sad you get sometimes because of him so don't you dare tell us it ain't important!"

Enzo was starting to panic, "Please, just stop asking me."

"How can we stop?" Dean too was getting frantic, "How can we stop when we-" he cut himself off before he said too much, "We can't just stop caring about your life Enzo. Why can't you trust us with this?"

"It's not that I don't trust you."

"Then what is it?" Roman all but begged, " _Who_ is it?"

"It's not imp-"

"Yes it is!"

"Please, who is it?"

"I can't tell y-"

"Yes you can!"

"I can't!" Enzo yelled, "I can't fucking say it!"

"Why not?"

"I just can't!"

"Why Enzo!"

"I'm not-"

"Why!?"

"Because it's you!"

It took everyone a while to take in what had just been said.

But no one was more shocked than Enzo. He stumbled back against the sink, hardly breathing and not believing what had just come out of his mouth.

Oh god. Oh god.

"Wh... what?" Roman's voice had all but deflated, as if he hadn't been screaming a few moments ago.

Enzo made the mistake of looking up, and seeing them both there, staring at him with wide eyes

Oh god.

Enzo closed his eyes.

Well. There goes his secret.

"It's you." he all but whispered, "That's why I can't tell you. That's why I can't talk to you about it. That's why I can't fucking say anything to you about who I love, okay? Because who I love is... it's you guys. Both of you. It's... it's you."

He put shaking hands over his face, genuinely afraid to look up. Because if he did he would see their looks of disgust and pity at his pathetic-ness. He couldn't fucking look.

But if he had, he would have seen Dean and Roman stare at him with wide eyes, and barely breathing. And the look in their eyes... well, it wasn't pity. Definitely not disgust.

There was disbelief, sure, but not the kind Enzo was thinking

The two snapped their heads to each other, trying to make sure that they had heard right. That this wasn't some kind of trick of the mind. But when they saw the shining looks in each other's eyes, they knew that they had heard perfectly.

Enzo had said. He'd just said...

"Us?" Roman whispered.

Enzo shrunk back against the sink.

"Yeah," he shuddered. There was no point even trying to grope for any kind of life line here. He was already too far gone, and there was no taking it back, "Yeah. You."

He couldn't believe what he had just said. They always said telling the truth was like a burden being lifted off your shoulders, but Enzo had never felt so heavy.

This was it wasn't it. He'd fucked it up for real this time. There was no going back anymore.

The silence was back with a vengeance. For Enzo, it was painful. He was honestly afraid that if he looked up, they would be gone. Not able to look at him anymore. Not able to even look at him now that they knew how fucking pathetic he was. So he kept his head down and his hands over his face.

The silence went on.

When it was finally broken, it was by the doorbell.

That goddamned Pizza.

For a long time no one moved. Until the bell rang again. And again. With an irritated curse, Roman turned on his heel and hightailed it to the door, if only to shut it up.

Enzo was left with Dean. He could still feel his eyes on him.

"Enzo..." he spoke for the first time in a long time.

He waited, and finally, Enzo looked up, moving his hands.

"You... you love us?"

Enzo swallowed hard. With a sniff, he nodded, "I'm sorry," he whispered, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

Dean started walking over to Enzo in long strides, and Enzo winced. Maybe he was going to punch him.

"I'm sorry. I'm real sorry."

Enzo was all prepared to rant long and hard about how he hadn't meant to fall in love with Dean and his boyfriend, but he was cut off when Dean reached him at the sink.

But Dean didn't punch him. No far from it.

Enzo was still rattling on about how sorry he was, but he was cut off mid sentence.

By Dean Ambrose's lips.

Enzo gasped as Dean's lips crashed against his. His eyes fluttered shut involuntarily when they moved against his.

Enzo was sure this was a dream, because this couldn't possibly be real right now. Dean Ambrose couldn't be kissing him, so it was definitely some kind of dream, and Enzo didn't want to waste a minute of it, so he let his lips follow Dean's in a frantic kiss.

Dean's hands were on Enzo's face as he kissed him, his eyes screwed shut. He knew deep down that this was probably not the best way to go on with this conversation, but he couldn't help himself. He hadn't even thought about it. He'd heard those words, and all he wanted to do was kiss Enzo and so.. so that's what he did.

And Enzo kissed him back.

He was finally kissing Enzo Amore, and he was kissing him back.

Dean let out a small growl as he pushed his lips further against Enzo's, his hand curling behind Enzo's neck, and his kiss was returned with equal ferocity. Enzo's lips were on fire as they moved against Dean's, and he swore he almost fell when he felt his tongue touch his. The kiss was hard and hungry, and Enzo let out an involuntary moan as his hands went up to Dean's shoulders, whether purposefully or just to keep himself up, he would never know.

For the first time in a long time, Enzo's mind was empty. Completely empty. How the hell could he think when Dean was... Dean was kissing him.

Really kissing him.

And Enzo was kissing him just as hard, before Dean came to his senses, or before the dream ended, or before-

The thought was cut off when a loud gasp rang through the kitchen.

Enzo's head snapped back, and he opened his eyes. He was quite dizzy now, and his vision was still clearing, but there was no mistaking the sight in front of him.

Roman was standing by the kitchen entrance, two boxes of Pizza in his hand, and a look on his face that Enzo couldn't quite interpret.

Enzo gasped as his senses came back, and he thought about what Roman was seeing.

He was seeing Enzo blatantly making out with his boyfriend.

Right after he'd confessed to loving them, and now Enzo was making out with his boyfriend.

Enzo gasped, his hands letting go of Dean's top, not even knowing when they had gotten there.

Oh god.

Oh god what had he done.

"Oh god," he shuddered, "I'm sorry." he blinked his eyes from Roman to Dean. What the hell was he doing, kissing Dean when he was with...

"Oh god I'm so sorry," he whispered again, tearing away from Dean and stumbling out of the room, making a beeline for his bedroom.

Behind him, Dean and Roman watched him with wide eyes, and then they looked at each other, and then they took off after him, the pizza slipping from Roman's hand and hitting the floor.

Enzo had never thought his room was so damn far from the kitchen. All he wanted to do was hide, but his room was so damn far!

"Enzo wait!" he heard behind him, but that just egged him on faster.

"Please, stop!"

He refused to turn around. How could he after he'd just...

Enzo kept going, and he finally reached his room. His hand was reaching for the doorknob, when a hand grabbed onto his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. He gasped as his head snapped up to see Roman.

"I'm sorry-" he started. He swallowed when he felt someone take his hand. He turned again to see Dean.

"I'm sorry," he said again.

The two seemed to be ignoring him, and Enzo's voice left him when he felt Roman's other hand come up to hold his cheek. Enzo's eyes widened, his mouth slightly open as he saw the look on Roman's face.

It wasn't anger, as he'd been expecting. But still, he couldn't quite place what the look was. Hell, his mind was too frazzled to even think that far. He couldn't even keep saying sorry like he wanted to. Because at the moment, the look on Roman's face wasn't important.

What was important was that his face was coming closer and closer to Enzo's.

He was moving painfully slowly, as if he was giving Enzo a chance to turn away.

But Enzo couldn't have moved even if he wanted to.

He just watched with wide eyes as Roman's face came closer to his.

As Roman's lips came closer to his.

"Enzo," Roman breathed against his lips, "You... you said you love us."

Enzo was nodding before he could even think about it.

Unlike with Dean, Enzo saw it coming this time, but that didn't make it any less of a shock when Roman's lips met his.

He couldn't keep in the pathetic whimper that left his mouth as his eyes fluttered shut and Roman's lips moved against his.

Enzo's hand snapped up to hold onto Roman's side, if only to keep himself up, because he was sure that if it wasn't for the hand on his shoulder and the hand holding his and the wall behind him, his legs wold have given up on him a long time ago.

Roman's kiss was polar opposite to Dean's. His lips glided softly over Enzo's. Much gentler, but just as intense.

Roman's lips moved slowly and deliberately, leaving Enzo feeling powerless against him. His tongue curled around Enzo, pulling another whimper as he kissed him as if their lips were molded together.

It could have been a second or an hour when Roman pulled away, Enzo honestly had no idea, but it took everything in him not to follow his lips when they moved away.

Enzo's eyes blinked open, his breath coming out in shudders as he stared at Roman with wide eyes. His eyes snapped to Dean, who was right next to him, and still holding onto his hand.

What the hell was happening?

Roman's hand, still on Enzo's cheek, stroked his face softly.

Roman licked his lips, and his hand left Enzo's face to hold his hand. The same hand that Dean was holding.

Enzo looked at the three hands, holding onto each other, and then he looked up at Dean's small smile, and then at Roman's.

"Enzo," Roman finally said, breaking the silence, "We should talk."


	38. Broken Kisses

Enzo lay on his back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Usually when he was lying in bed like this, he had a million things going through his mind. And seriously, it was always a million. That's just how his mind worked. He only let half those things out of his mouth, and even that was usually too much for people.

Well... most people anyway.

Enzo blinked at the ceiling again.

Yeah, usually a million things.

But right now... right this moment, he wasn't thinking at all. He was trying to... but nothing was coming up.

All that was going through his head was a constant chant of _Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod._

He blinked at the ceiling again, taking a huge breath.

Damn. How many nights had he spent in this very bed, and many just like it, just laying alone, staring at the ceiling, thinking a million thoughts.

This time was different though. For one, he had no thoughts. And second… he wasn't alone.

As if reading his mind, Enzo felt a shift next to him. He turned his head to the left, and there he was.

In his bed. Roman fucking Reigns.

With a gulp. Enzo turned his head slowly to his other side, and holy hell.

In his bed. Motherfucking Dean Ambrose.

Enzo turned his head back up to the ceiling.

Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod.

 _*One hour earlier*_

Enzo was sitting at his kitchen table, back straight and arms stiff at his sides. Dean and Roman were sitting across from him, just looking at him, and then occasionally looking at each other, and then back at him.

Enzo had no idea how long they'd sat there. In silence.

It had taken him long enough to peel away from the wall by his bedroom door and head back to the kitchen as per Roman's suggestion. That was basically the last time any of them had spoken.

Now it was just this... silence. And this staring. Usually when Enzo looked at these two, his stomach would erupt and he'd get all sweaty and swoony. Now... he was just trying really hard not to pass out. Or shit his pants.

"So we should probably talk," Roman finally spoke.

"You said that already," Dean pointed out.

"Yeah I... I don't know what else to say..." Roman muttered.

"Baby there is plenty to say," Dean scoffed.

"Well then _you_ say it!"

"Well you're the one who-"

"You kissed me."

Dean and Roman froze in their bickering and their heads snapped to Enzo.

Enzo swallowed, but managed to find his voice again, "You both kissed me." he said again.

"Why... why'd you do that?"

Again, the room was flooded with silence. For a long time, Enzo thought they wouldn't answer, and in the silence he filled in the reasons for himself. That this was a joke or a prank or some kind of weird couple experiment that they were using him for.

He was sinking deeper and deeper into these thoughts and he was just about ready to get up and run when Roman sighed softly.

"Enzo we've been wanting to do that for a while now."

...

Well that wasn't exactly what he had been bracing himself for.

Roman cleared his throat nervously, "You see me and Dean have… we've been having these… these feelings… for… for you. And… well… you see we weren't actually gonna do anything about… about them… you know, the feelings. For you. But then… then you said that… you said that you… you said you…'

"Are you making fun of me?"

The question came out as a snarl, and Enzo's face was furious as his leg shook under the table, "Is that what this is? I said something stupid, and now you're running it as some kind of joke?"

"A joke?" Roman choked out, "What? No! Of course not, that's not…." he shook his head frantically, "this is comp… completely serious. Completely. I'm just really, really bad at saying this stuff out loud."

He all but sank in his chair, and Enzo's twisted face softened considerably when he noticed how utterly hopeless he looked. Even Dean was looking at Roman and feeling sorry for him. So he decided to take the lead. Whether that was a good idea or not would remain to be known.

"Alright this is getting uncomfortable." Dean slapped his hands to the table and all eyes snapped up to him "Enzo, yes, we kissed you. Both of us. Right after you shouted out that you love us. I see why that would be a little confusing so allow me to explain, alright?" he didn't wait for an answer, "Alright, so this is what happened. It started back when we were in Georgia, and you came back to the hotel smelling like booze and sex."

Enzo blinked, "Georgia? That... that was ages ago."

Dean nodded, "Yeah. Yeah it's been a long time. And you came to the hotel smelling like sex. And that... that got me mad. Like real mad. I didn't know why at the time. I tried to convince myself that I wasn't mad at all except I was. Extremely. Just like every time after that you came back smelling like sex. Which... which was a lot, you know? Anyway, skip a couple of weeks and you come back to the hotel in _Carmella's_ bed half naked and crying and... and that got me even more pissed, you know. Still had no idea why though.

"Until the next night at RAW when I saw Corey Graves with a bag full of your clothes and it hit me like 'holy shit, he's your boyfriend', and I was like 'nope. I don't like that.' and then me and Corey... well... we had words, and then I figured out I was so pissed cause, well, I had... feelings. For you. And that was... well that hit me like a ton of bricks because what the fuck. You know? Who gets feelings for one of their best friends when they're in a fucking relationship already, but that didn't really make the feelings stop and it was totally fucking with my head." Dean took a deep breath, noting that he hadn't in a while, while both pairs of eyes stared at him wide eyed at his elaborate explanation.

"And that's when I went to see my dad. Fuck load of help he was. Honestly I still don't know why I listen to that guy he's full of shit. But this time he kinda made sense. Going all, 'get your shit together Dean', but I couldn't get my shit together because I still had these mad, stupid feelings. For you. So I just kept feeling like shit because... well... it's a real shit situation having feelings for your best friend while you've in a relationship, you know? And then, just when I'd accepted that I'd have to keep feeling like shit for the rest of my life, Jimmy and Jey had their party, and there was the whole thing with Cass, and then you left, and we didn't know if you were gonna come back, and that's when I realised, and I was like, 'holy shit, I love him.' And that's when I finally told Roman, and then Roman was like 'holy shit, I love him too' and long story short that's why I kissed you." Dean let out a big breath as he finished slumping down on his chair, "because I love you."

Wide blue eyes were still trained on Dean as he finished.

"Okay, your turn Ro."

Roman blinked a few times, and then shrugged, "Yeah me too. What he said."

This time, two pairs of eyes fixed onto Roman, and he blinked back at them. Dean then let out a quick huff, standing up, "Zo could you give us a second?" he asked before promptly dragging Roman out of his chair and to the other side of the kitchen. Still with wide eyes, Enzo watched as they proceeded to hiss at each other in what they probably thought was quiet whispers. But was really not.

Dean narrowed his eyes at Roman, " _What he said_? Really?"

"Well yeah. That pretty much sums it up for me too."

"Well you have to give your own explanation Roman. You can't copy off me."

"I'm not copying, Dean. I was just about to say the same thing. Just you know, with more finesse maybe."

Dean blinked at him, "You had your chance and you couldn't get three words out without choking!"

"Which is why both of us just using your speech works so well!" he countered.

Still at the table, Enzo watched them bicker, but their words weren't really registering in his mind. He was stuck on the thing Dean had said only a few moments ago.

That 'I love you'.

He said, 'I love you'.

 _That's why I kissed you. Because I love you._

That's what he had said. The words rolled through Enzo's head, scrambling his brain so much he had to wonder if he'd just made them up.

He was fixated on those three words that Dean had said that he so obviously didn't realize he had just said. Which… which probably meant that it had probably been a mistake then, right? Him saying that.

… Right?

Underneath the table, Enzo's shaking hands were clenched into fists as Dean and Roman's quiet bickering filled the background.

…Well, it was background until...

"Seriously Roman, you can't really be as bad at this as Naomi and them say."

Roman looked like he was surprised that Dean had any faith in him at all, "I… I am as bad as they say, you know that."

"No, you're really not."

"When I first told you I loved you all those years ago, you were throwing up out the side of the car after that really bad Chipotle. Remember?"

Dean winced softly, "Do I remember? It was the single most pathetic 'I love you' in the history of forever."

"Yes, I thought it would be poetic to say it when you were all messy and disgusting. Which is my point exactly. I'd like my 'I love you' to Enzo to not suck, okay?"

Dean sighed, "Okay fine, I get that. But I worked hard on my one you can't steal it."

Roman narrowed his eyes at him, "you did not work hard on that you just made it up."

The bickering picked up again, but once again, it all flew over Enzo's head. Once again, he was kinda thrown off by that… that little phrase that kept being thrown around that was seriously confusing him. Those words that made absolutely no sense to him.

Because… because now Roman had said it too.

He was talking about saying 'I love you' to Enzo.

 _'I love you'._

Why… why did they keep saying that?

He sat on his chair while they did their loud whispering on the other side of the kitchen. His hands weren't stopping their shaking. In fact it looked like they were getting worse.

This was… this was… this was too much.

He stood up abruptly, not noticing the chair that toppled over, and not noticing the sudden silence in the room.

He was outside before the other two could even move. He had definitely needed the burst of fresh air. And also the emergency pill in his pocket. He hadn't needed an emergency anxiety pill in a really long time, so this was tasted pretty funky but he didn't care at the moment because he really needed it.

He was leaning against the wall counting his breaths when the door opened slowly. He didn't have to open his eyes to know that they had their heads popped out looking all concerned.

Enzo hoped they'd go inside quickly.

He really should have known better by now.

"Okay in retrospect we probably shouldn't have been having private conversations at this moment in time…" said Dean quietly, "… We're not really good at this."

Good at what? Enzo wanted to ask but he really wasn't up to talking at the moment.

"We… were just talking about how to-"

"I heard what you were talking about," Enzo said, "You're real bad at whispering."

Roman winced, "Oh… so it's… it's the Chipotle isn't it? That's what freaked you out? You don't have to worry, we don't eat there anymore."

Enzo couldn't help but let out a snort, "It's… it's not the Chipotle."

"Okay then was it… the uh…"Dean cleared his throat, "I don't know what to blame. Was it the projectile vomiting story? That's a bad story."

Enzo just sighed against the wall, still not opening his eyes. Dean and Roman glanced at each other, and then back at Enzo.

"Look," Roman pinched the bridge of his nose, "I'm sorry, we've never done this before. I don't think… I don't think many couples have to deal with figuring out a way to tell their friend that they're in love with him and-"

"Oh my god stop it!" he finally snapped, "stop saying that! You keep saying that, why do you keep saying that?"

The outburst caused Dean and Roman to jump back a bit in the doorway. With another glare at them, Enzo just shook his head with a scoff and pushed past them back into the apartment. He planned to storm off into his room, but someone was in front of him in a split second.

"Wait wait," Roman held his hands up, "Keep saying what? That we… that we love you?"

"Stop it!" he yelled again, "I told you to stop it!"

"We're supposed to be talking about this… this whole thing," Dean cut in, "This is us talking about it."

"Well I don't want to talk!"

"We can't just not talk." Roman sighed with gritted teeth.

"Of course we can."

"But we-"

"Just drop it, okay?"

"You said you love us!" the shout came from Dean this time, "You said you love us, Enzo!"

"I know what I said!" he snarled, "So I was right, huh? You guys _are_ making fun of me, right? Huh?"

"Why would… why would we do that?"

"Well what other explanation is there for what you keep sayin'?" Enzo kept trying to get around Roman but his broad body was hard to avoid, "Why else would you keep saying that?"

Roman just stared at him, his head shaking slightly as he realised that Enzo genuinely didn't want to hear it.

Or just genuinely didn't believe it.

"Enzo," Dean cut in with folded arms, "Did you mean it? When you said what you said, did you mean it?"

The sudden question caught Enzo off guard, and this was his chance. This was his chance to lie and say that he hadn't. Of course they'd know that he was lying through his teeth, but it was better than having to look them in the eye and tell them the truth. On purpose this time. He couldn't do that again. He couldn't go through that kind of heart stopping anxiety again.

"Did you mean it? Dean asked him again.

And despite his carefully thought out lie, Enzo found himself hypnotized by two pairs of baring eyes, and for some reason he was nodding.

"I'm sorry," he whispered again.

"No stop that," Roman shook his head, "Don't you ever apologize for saying that. Please. And stop trying to stop us when we say that we love you too. Because we do. You gotta believe that."

Enzo's silence was accompanied by wide, fearful eyes and shallow breaths. Before he could stop himself, he was taking several steps back. His head was still shaking from side to side when his back hit the wall.

"This makes no sense," he muttered, a hand going to clutch at his hair, and another searching through his pocket in vain for another pill.

Noticing his unravelling, Roman sighed quietly, "Okay maybe... maybe we should take a breather here until you're-"

"A breather," Enzo chuckled softly, "That's... that's not gonna happen here, you see, because... because you two keep saying that... you keep saying that you l... that you-"

The words wouldn't leave his mouth, so Dean said it for him. "That we love you." he said quietly. "Yeah, we keep saying that."

Still Enzo's head was shaking, "This makes no sense," he muttered again.

"Enzo-"

"No, this makes no sense!" he burst, "You... you're a couple! You guys... you love each other more than any two people I know. You've been together for five damn years! I was fucking okay with loving you from a distance, okay? I was dealing with it just fine, and the next thing I know you're kissing me against the sink and you're kissing me against the wall and then you're holding my fucking hand and... and now you're here telling me that you... that you..." he shook his head rapidly, "It makes no sense."

"Damn right it makes no sense," Dean nodded, "You think we don't know that? This is fucked up! We're a couple! The basic rule is to not fall in love with anyone else and yet somehow, we both did. We fell for _you_ Enzo, and it doesn't make sense, but that don't mean it's going away. Trust me, I've tried to make it go away, but you make it really damn hard not to fall for you."

Still Enzo stared at him in disbelief. And then he stared at Roman as he made no objections. Enzo couldn't stop shaking his head.

"But... but you can't!" he said weakly, "A ... a couple can't just up and fall for some other person, that's... that's not how it works."

"You're not just some other person, Enzo," Dean said, fighting the urge to stop forward and just hold his face, "You made it way too easy for us to fall for you. And… and so we just... did."

Still Enzo just stared, until finally he replied, so softly they almost had to wonder if he'd actually said it.

"Why?" he breathed out. The genuine question hung in the air, and the two across from Enzo felt their hearts drop. He honestly didn't believe them. He honestly didn't see why they could love him. Why they _did_ love him. He just wasn't getting it. Or he just refused to get it.

Roman shook his head with a sigh "You know, you were right before, Enzo. This isn't how things are supposed to go." Dean turned to him with a slight frown, curious as to what he was getting at, and hoping it was better than the Chipotle incident.

"And yeah," continued Roman, "This makes no sense. The both of us falling in love with you makes no fucking sense, and a lot of people would call it crazy. And... yeah, they would probably be right. But the thing is Enzo, and I think I'm speaking for both of us here... I just don't give a fuck anymore. I mean, I did, maybe ten minutes ago when I didn't think we had a chance, but then you said that you love us Enzo. You said that you love us and so I just don't give a fuck anymore about how crazy or nonsensical this is!" Roman took a deep breath to steady himself, "Enzo you have no idea how many nights I've laid in bed trying to convince myself that what I was feeling for you was wrong, and that it was a phase, and that it would go away. Once Dean told me it's how he felt too, we _both_ stayed up all night trying to convince each other that what we felt would just go away because "that's just not how things work". But then we'd see you drooling on your pillow, or dancing to your headphones or messing around in the kitchen and then we'd forget that this isn't how things are supposed to be because when you love someone the way we love you Enzo, you can't just convince yourself to stop. Even though you probably should."

Enzo had stopped shaking his head, but his wide eyes still remained unblinking as they stared at Roman. Dean was in a similar state, enthralled by Roman's words, and not at all surprised that they were exactly the words he wanted to say too.

Roman then took Dean's hand, and slowly they moved towards the still man by the wall.

"And then you go and say that you love us back." he said quietly, "You were standing right in that kitchen and you said you love us back. And when we kissed you, you kissed us back. And now this isn't as impossible as it felt before. Because... because you love us. And we love you. And... right now I can't think of anything else that really matters."

Roman finished talking with a deep breath, not quite believing he'd said all that.

None of them could quite believe that he'd said all that. Particularly Enzo. Who, no matter how much he tried, couldn't find a lie in Roman's eyes. And when he looked into Dean's they only reflected what Roman had said. Which could only mean…

It could only mean that…

"You mean it." he said in a near whisper, "You actually… you actually mean it."

Dean nodded, a smile on his face as he reached for Enzo's hand, threading their fingers together and squeezing, "We really do. We love you, Enzo."

Enzo was back to shaking his head as his eyes dashed from brown ones to blue, "You love me." He whispered, more to himself than to them, "You… you love me."

Roman was out of words, so he replied in the only other way he knew how. Stepping towards Enzo, he help his cheek softly in his hand. Enzo let out a light gasp as soon as Roman touched him. And next to them, he saw the smile on Dean's face widen.

"Can I kiss you again?" he asked quietly, "I realise I didn't really ask before. I probably should have asked before as well because-"

His sentence never finished, because before he could convince himself not to, Enzo had surged forward, and for the second time that night, he was kissing Roman Reigns. The kiss didn't last nearly as long as Enzo wanted it to, but his already shallow breathing made him pull away, a long gasp leaving his lips.

Enzo only had time to glimpse the wide eyed and stunned look on Roman's face before another hand was on his other cheek, and Dean's grinning face was in front of his.

Again, as if by a newly discovered instinct, Enzo was the first to move, and his lips covered Dean's in a sweet kiss that had his head reeling.

This time when he pulled away, he kept his eyes closed, fully aware of the hands on his face, and the lips only inches from his.

Enzo shook his head, "I never thought I'd be able to do that." He breathed.

"We're gonna be doing a lot of that," Dean's smirk could be heard in his voice, and the other two chuckled.

Roman grinned at the two, "Well how about we keep doing that in bed."

Enzo's eyes flew open and Dean's head snapped to Roman.

With a gasp, Roman's hands shot up, "Okay that sounded dirty, I did _not_ mean it like that!" he explained quickly, "I'm really tired and need to go to bed, but I still wanna keep doing the kissing. That's it that's all I meant."

Dean and Enzo couldn't help but laugh at Roman's defensive stance, and the way his voice rose as he explained.

"Honestly yeah," Enzo nodded as his chuckled died down, "A bed sounds real good right now... It's been… quite a day.

:::

Back in the bed, Enzo smiled up at the ceiling as the events of the night played in his mind like a broken tape. And those kisses. All those kisses.

"Oh my god." he couldn't help but whisper. He must've been a little louder than he had thought, because next to him, he heard a soft moan. He turned his head and saw Roman with his eyes blinking open.

"Hey." Enzo whispered.

Roman smiled at him sleepily, "Hey." his hand went up to Enzo's face, as if cementing everything. Assuring Enzo that this was all real.

"You okay?" Roman whispered, "Have you slept at all?"

Enzo turned his face to Roman's hand, leaning into the touch, "I'm good," he said honestly. "I'm good. You good?"

Roman blinked sleepily, a smile still on his face, "I'm great."

Enzo expected Roman to go back to sleep, but he didn't. He just kept looking at him. Enzo couldn't help his smile.

"What?" Roman asked him. Enzo just shook his head, "Nothing it's just..." the words were having a hard time coming out, "It's just... I'm still..." he shook his head again, and Roman chuckled.

"Yeah. Yeah me too."

They must have jostled the bed with their laughs, because on the other side of Enzo, Dean jerked up with a snort.

"H-huh? Wha' happened?"

Enzo and Roman turned to him and laughed again. Dean frowned at them through droopy eyes, "Why are we awake?" he mumbled.

"We're not," Enzo said.

Dean nodded without question, "Okay," he yawned, letting his head fall to the pillow again, but not before tightening his hold around Enzo, all but turning his body completely towards him and burying his face into his hair.

Roman chuckled lightly at the now snoring Dean, "You should savour this," he whispered, "He's not nearly as affectionate when he's awake."

Enzo tried not to move too much as he laughed, but he took Roman's advice and pressed up against Dean. Roman smiled at the both of them. He stretched his arm out so he was holding them both, and then kissed the back of Enzo's head.

He looked at his boys, and he doubted he'd ever stop smiling.


	39. Broken Banter

Seth Rollins arrived at Enzo's Orlando apartment late in the morning. He hoped that giving Enzo, Dean and Roman time to themselves had actually been enough to get at least one of them to man up and say something.

Seth let himself into apartment 17E, and for a moment he wondered if he was in the right place. It was very quiet. Quiet wasn't a word Seth ever thought he would associate with Enzo, Dean and Roman together, under any circumstances, and it was way too quiet in here.

Any doubt that this was Enzo's place went away quickly though when Seth looked around the apartment. Only Enzo Amore could have so many useless and gaudy trinkets scattered around and call it decoration.

Also, it was very messy in here. As Seth put his bags down and went to the kitchen, his eyebrows shot up. Yeah. Very messy. Too messy.

At the kitchen table the chairs looked like they had been hastily pushed back, and one of them was knocked back and on the floor.

Seth frowned when he saw two pizza boxes at his feet. Uneaten pizza, at that. And none of these men were the type to leave pizza uneaten. Not unless something was very wrong.

Seth's thoughts were only confirmed when he saw a very broken answering machine on the floor. It was so shattered it looked like it had been thrown.

This… did not look good.

Quickly, Seth left the kitchen and went towards where he assumed the bedrooms wold be. The first room he went into was empty. it seemed dull and unused, which probably meant it was the guestroom. The next room was similar, but looked more lived in. When he looked closer, he saw that Dean and Roman's bags were in here.

The bed was made, as if it hadn't even been touched. Why… why weren't they in their room?

Seth blinked. This was either really good, or really bad.

He looked across the hallway at the last room. The door was closed, and it was quiet. Very, very quiet.

Seth wondered if he was being over dramatic, but shook his head. No, the extreme was usually what was expected with these three.

Seth took a breath as he approached the room, then turned the handle slowly, and then finally pushed the door open and peaked inside.

For a few moments, Seth did nothing. Didn't blink, didn't move, probably didn't even breath. He just stared. And then, he smiled.

Finally.

:::

Dean was smiling before he was even fully awake. It usually took him a minute to gather his bearings, but something about this morning was different. The events of the night before flashed before him as his grin grew wider. Enzo saying that he loved Roman and Dean. Kissing Enzo. Them telling Enzo they loved him. Enzo kissing them.

Sure a lot more happened but that was the jist of it.

At this moment, Dean would be wondering if he had made it all up, if it weren't for the fact that this morning there were two pairs of arms around him instead of one.

Deans eyes blinked open and found himself face to face with white blonde hair. He could feel Enzo's breaths against his neck. Just above Enzo's head he saw Roman, still fast asleep. And just behind Roman….

Wait what?

Dean's smiling eyes transformed into a glare when he saw someone sitting on the edge of the bed, a phone in his hand pointing at them.

"Rollins you motherfucking-"

"Shhh." Seth hissed back through his shark like grin, "You'll wake them up."

Dean so badly wanted to leap out of the bed and pummel the smug looking son of a bitch, but he was right, he wouldn't dare wake up the others. What he wanted was to go back to closing his eyes so that he could go back to cuddling while no one would be the wiser. Now if only Seth would just get the fuck out! And why was he pointing that phone at them like….

"Oh my god, are you recording this?"

Seth's grin widened, if that was possible, "Don't you want to remember your first time in bed as a… couple? Trio? Threesome? I don't know what to call this."

"Rollins I swear to god if you don't get out right the fuck now-"

"Okay fine, I'm going." Seth stood up with a long sigh, his camera still trained at the bed, Dean's glare following him all the way to the door.

With another grin, Seth couldn't help but whisper, "So how about a little kiss for the-" he didn't get to finish his sentence as a pillow flew at his head and he was forced out of the room.

Dean held his breath when his jostling caused Enzo next to him to squirm around a bit. When he settled down again, Dean sighed into a smile. He didn't have a pillow anymore, but that didn't matter. Enzo's hair was fluffy enough. Dean settled back down, happy that both his bed buddies were still asleep and would be none the wiser of his cuddling habits.

His smile grew as he breathed Enzo in, and felt the brush of Roman's fingers against his waist.

Just below his chin Enzo smiled into Dean's chest, glad that Dean still thought he was sleeping and wouldn't move away to save his reputation. And if the shallow breathing at his neck was anything to go by, Roman had woken up too. And it didn't look like he was about to show it either.

Enzo would stay like this for hours more if it meant just laying here in their arms.

Unlike Dean, he was still coming to terms with the fact that he wasn't making any of this up. He'd gone to sleep in their arms and woken up in their arms and he was still in their freaking arms and he was still wrapping his mind around it.

He'd be happy to do all his processing right where he was.

Especially when he felt Dean's arms tighten around him even more.

"Got two hot guys in my beeed," he started singing quietly, his shoulders shaking up and down, "Zo-Ro-Brose in my beeed." Enzo's grin against Dean's shoulder stretched across his face as Dean sang his made up song, "Never getting out of this beeed." He continued.

Still Enzo fought to keep quiet and not give away that he was awake. It got decisively harder at Dean's jig and continued humming.

Even biting his lips shut and squeezing his eyes shut, Enzo couldn't help the snort that escaped him. Dean paused at the movement, and Enzo inwardly cursed. That's when he heard the loud whisper behind him.

"Shh." Roman said, "we can't let him know we're awake."

"Sorry," Enzo hissed back, "I'm shutting up now."

The two went back to laying still in the bed, eyes closed to Dean's shock, and then his deadly glare.

"You dirt bastards."

Enzo couldn't help but snort again.

"You're giving us away!" Roman's whispered again.

"You've been awake the whole time?" Dean growled.

"…. not the whole time." Said Enzo, finally lifting his head off Dean's shoulder to look up at him through his lashes.

"Zo-Ro-Brose huh?" Enzo could her Roman's smirk behind him, "How long has that been brewing?"

Dean's just kept glaring, his narrowed eyes switching from Enzo to Roman.

"You both suck." He snarled.

"Yeah yeah we love you two." Chuckled Enzo. His breath caught in his throat. He'd said it yesterday, but, he was still wrapping his head around this whole thing.

Was it still okay to say it. Had… had they changed their minds?

The silence on both sides of him made Enzo stiffen. He looked up again, almost fearful, but then He saw Dean's eyes looking down at him. But all glaring or snarling was gone, and instead his icy blue eyes had softened as they looked down at Enzo.

Before a word could be said, Enzo felt the arms behind him tighten, and Roman's lips press against the back of his neck.

"Hell yeah we do." He said, and Enzo's face broke into a grin again at the feel of Roman's smile against his neck. Enzo's hand gripped on Roman's arm around his waist and buried his face back into Dean's chest.

"Oh this is just too adorable."

Three heads snapped to the door, where Seth stood grinning, his phone pointed at them again.

"Goddammit Rollins!"

Seth ran away again, this time dodging three pillows as they were flung at him.

"Okay fine, I'm going!"

:::

Seth spent most of the morning alone in Enzo's apartment. He righted the apartment as best he could, or as best as he cared to. He picked up the dropped chair, threw away the floor pizza, and fixed the answering machine that lay on the floor.

Most of his questions about what had happened the night before (and why) were answered once he heard the last message on the machine, and he couldn't help but grin at Leah's bluntness. He could really learn to like that girl.

Every attempt to enter the room left Seth with something being thrown at his head. Maybe it was partly his fault, because he kept trying to take pictures, but honestly, they really shouldn't have been throwing things at him.

Seth managed to entertain himself for as long as he was basically alone in the apartment. He assumed that those three would he sharing the main room from now on, so he claimed the biggest out of the two guest rooms, leaving Dean and Roman's things by the door of the still shut room.

He got very bored very quickly, gong out for food, exploring the apartment complex, and generally fooling around with Enzo's things, and all the while, the room stayed closed. Seth would have been annoyed if he wasn't so glad that they were all in there together.

So despite his irritation at being left out, he let them be.

:::

It was 2 o'clock when Enzo, Dean and Roman finally got out of bed. They didn't want to, but bodily necessities forced them, such as using the bathroom and the shower and their phones.

Enzo was almost afraid to look at his, but when he finally did, he found that there were many voice messages, most of which, unsurprisingly, were from Leah. But none were angry this time, just a lot of happy noises with some words he didn't understand in between. Which meant, unsurprisingly, that Seth hadn't deleted whatever he had put on his phone like he had promised he would.

When Roman answered his phone for the first time in a while, Gina was on the other side, mad at the fact that he hadn't called and told her that they had finally grown some balls as soon as it happened.

Dean had opened his phone only to be assaulted by yelling voices and inappropriate shouts from either one or both the Usos. It was hard to tell, since they sounded eerily alike when they were excited.

The assault from their family did nothing to stop the smiles from the faces of the three. They went back to bed as soon as they could, actually letting Seth in this time.

"So is this how this week is gonna go?" Seth asked as he sat at the foot of the bed, "Just a whole lot of doing nothing?"

"Absolutely," Dean nodded immediately.

Seth raised an eyebrow, "Seriously?"

"Well yeah," Roman nodded, "Plus, we're all still recovering from Summerslam. Bed rest, you know?"

Seth snorted, "Roman you wouldn't rest if both your legs were broken, so don't pretend you care about that."

"Well it's not bed rest for _me_ ," Roman shrugged, which earned him a look from the two people to his left.

"What's that now?" Dean raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, bed rest for who?" Enzo glared, his eyes daring Roman to say it."

Roman just looked at them and blinked, "This thing where ya'll gang up on me is about to get a whole lot worse, isn't it."

Seth snorted as he watched the intense glares, "oh yeah," he nodded.

Dean and Enzo tried to keep their glares, but after a little while, Roman had Dean fighting giggles, and Enzo trying to hide a blush. Seth almost asked what he was doing to them under those covers, but he didn't want to get kicked out again. Plus they were out of pillows, so they'd probably find something a lot heavier to throw at his head.

So he kept his mouth shut.

Well, at least he tried to.

"So how's this gonna work?" he burst before he could stop himself.

A conversation he hadn't been paying attention to halted as three pairs of eyes turned to him.

"How's what gonna work?" said Dean slowly.

"You know," Seth shrugged. He gestured to the tangle on the bed, "This. This throuple thing. How's it gonna work."

Dean, Roman and Enzo exchanged frowns, "Did he say throuple?" Enzo muttered.

Seth rolled his eyes, "Throuple. I looked it up and that's what the kids are calling it these days. You know, three people in a relationship. You know, as opposed to a threesome, which is just a sex thing." He paused for a few seconds, "Why do I know more about this than you?"

"Cause you read way too much," Dean scoffed.

Seth just sighed at them, "This is stuff you should know, guys. How much do you people actually know about polyamorous relationships? On top of that, are you even _in_ a relationship? I mean, did you two even ask Enzo to be your... boyfriend, or whatever? Or did you just jump into bed? And if you do make this a full out relationship, how are you gonna deal with that?"

Three faces stared at Seth wide eyes and blank faces. He hardly noticed.

"And what about in public? At work? Are you just gonna keep being the couple and the friend? Or are you gonna announce that you're all together? Or is one of you gonna kiss Enzo in the hallway and risk everyone thinking you're cheating on the other one?"

"Uh... Seth."

"And all of that's gonna make Enzo out to be a dick. And besides that, have you thought about the jealousy? Roman's already a possessive fuck, so it's about to get twice as bad now, you know?"

"Seth..."

"And I hear that polyamorous relationships experience even more jealousy than most. You know, because of all the people involved. Which brings me back to my fist point. _Are_ you in a relationship? Cause I haven't heard you guys do much talking at all today. Trust me I've been trying to listen. And also-"

"Seth!"

Seth finally shut up long enough to notice that he was being glared at. Hard.

He blinked, "What?"

"Get out," Dean said without hesitation.

Seth just sighed at him, "These are all real questions that you have to deal with. I'm just-"

"Dude." Roman snarled, "Shut up."

"But I'm just trying to-"

"Dude get out!"

Seth just narrowed his eyes and stood up with a sigh making towards the door, "You're just dodging the conversation." he turned his nose up at them, "You'll thank me one day when you're a happy, functional throuple."

He just managed to make it out the door as a picture frame was thrown at his head, and he yelled a laughing curse at the now closed door.

Sure, they could shut him up for now. But eventually they'd see that he was right. And Seth would be right here to show them the way.

:::

 **Oh look what it is? Another chapter. Finally.**

 **I'm real sorry guys. Life has been kicking me in the balls for a while now (I won't traumatize you with the details) and I couldn't even bring myself to sit in front of a computer to do _anything_. But today I actually managed to pull something out of my brain to give you this little chapter. **

**I hope you're still with me here.**

 **PS: I LOVE reviews so much. It's like getting paid. Except it's not money it's just your words, which sometimes feel just as good. :) :) :) Just by the way. :) :) :)**

 **Okay buh bye. Till next time.**

 **-Leeh**


	40. Broken Friends

Leah hadn't wanted to put him on the 'Çouncil of Amore' group. Honestly , Corey didn't care much for the idea either, but knowing why she didn;t want to put him on it made him insist on being included.

He refused to be the sad sap she now undoubtedly saw him as. So to prove to her that he was completely supportive of Enzo's feelings, and was absolutely fine with talking about how to get him together with... them, Corey made her put him on the stupid group.

It was because of this temporary lapse in judgement that the first thing Corey woke to on Tuesday morning was that picture on his phone.

He guessed he had known that it was coming. He knew it would happen eventually. Hell, he had been expecting it to happen, it's just... not now.

Not so soon. Not just as he managed to come to terms with the fact that he didn't dislike Enzo as much as he wanted to. Hell, that he didn't dislike him at all.

He had just managed to accept it, and now... this.

And it didn't help that the one person he had managed to tell this to was completely on the other team. Which, as he knew, was probably the main reason she hadn't wanted him on the group. But Corey's stupid ass had insisted.

And now... this picture. Courtesy of Seth Rollins, with the big caption, 'FINALLY!'

For someone who hated the picture so much, Corey sure did spend a lot of time looking at it.

By the yellowish gold printed covers, he could only assume that they were in Enzo's bedroom. Another clue was the framed little photo on the bedside table of him and Leah and who Corey assumed was Trudy Grey. That same table had a few seemingly useless trinkets. A gold elephant, a worn out dream-catcher, something that looked like a dusty book, and a few other things he couldn't recognize exactly.

Of course, he only noticed all these things because he was trying so hard to ignore the main part of the photo. The glaring part of it.

The part were Enzo was asleep in bed. His head tucked into the chest of Dean Ambrose, whose arms were wrapped tightly around him. On Enzo's other side, was Roman Reigns. his head against Enzo's hair, and his arm over Enzo, and his hand holding onto Dean's arm.

They had finally done it. Somehow, they had finally admitted their feelings for each other, and now they were together. Enzo finally had the guys he was so desperately in love with.

Dean and Roman could finally love their friend out loud.

They were all happy.

And Corey couldn't get out of bed.

There were more picture and videos sent after that one, after demands of more proof and more information from the other members of the group. This time however, Corey had the sense to not open any of them.

As the days passed, he received a few calls from Leah, and he'd obviously ignored them all. He didn't have it in him to listen to her sympathetic apologies. He especially couldn't take it if she started crying for him again. There were also some calls from Enzo. When those came, he had to restrain form throwing his phone across the room.

He dreaded having to see Enzo the following Monday. Corey could already see how it would go. Enzo would burst into his dressing room, probably happier than Corey had ever seen him. Corey would make up some excuse for why he had ignored all his calls, and Enzo would forgive him without a thought. Enzo would gush about how great everything was. About how great his week was. About how great Dean and Roman were. About how everything was so _great._ And Corey... Corey would fake a smile and tell him how very happy he was for him. Because... they were friends. And that's what friends did.

And then Enzo would probably hug him or something. That's what Corey would get. A hug.

Because he didn't need him for sex anymore. No, he finally had Dean and Roman for that.

And Corey would be happy for him. Because he was his friend, and that's what friends did.

Corey shut his eyes at the thought. He swallowed down a lump that had no business being in his throat. But it grew every time he thought about how he was Enzo's friend. And how he'd just keep being Enzo's friend. His friend.

Just his friend.

Corey grit his teeth. God, this wasn't helping. It was almost like he wanted to feel like shit, seeing as he kept thinking about it, and he kept looking back at the picture. This was self sabotage at it's finest.

He could'n't just lay here and feel sorry for himself like this. He couldn't.

But obviously, that was much easier said than done. Because aside from the bathroom once in a while, Corey didn't leave his bed that day. Or the day after that. Or the day after that.

In fact, the only time he became productive was on Monday, when he was forced to get up and shower and put on a suit and go to work.

Where he'd see Enzo.

And where Enzo would gush about how happy he was.

And where Corey would have to be happy for him.

Because he was his friend.

Just his friend.

:::

Enzo was walking down the RAW hallways with a smile that downright hurt his face. It was amazing how much could change within the space of a week.

This time last week, he had walked these corridors with his best friends on either side of him. Now those same guys were his... his boyfriends.

Could he say boyfriends?

He didn't quite know, because, much to Seth's annoyance, none of the week had actually been spent talking about the thinks they all knew they should be talking about. Instead, they stayed too long in bed, and they ate way too much fast food, and they watched movies and listened to bad music and drank beers and wine in whatever crockery they could find.

Seth's pleas for real food and the gym and some kind of productivity fell on deaf ears, and he eventually had to just give up and let himself have a week of being lazy. Enzo knew he'd never admit it, but Seth enjoyed being lazy a lot more than he let on.

On Friday, Enzo had spent an incredible amount of time on the phone with Leah. After many apologies for all the messages he had ignored, he spent a lot of time just... gushing. He didn't think he was the type of person to spend ages on the phone with his sister talking about being in love.

But he guessed that that was because he'd never had this before. He'd never been in love like this. And he'd never been loved back like this.

Before his call with Leah had ended, she'd asked him if he'd heard from Corey. He hadn't. He had tried to get a hold of him a few times, and to no avail. He didn't make much of an effort after that because he knew that he'd be seeing him soon enough.

Enzo already knew that Corey knew about what had happened. Leah had put him on that dumb group after all, so he'd received all the photos and videos and messages, but still, that wasn't the same as talking to him about it.

So that's how, halfway through RAW on Monday night, Enzo found himself outside Corey's dressing room. He wasn't out at the announce tables, so this is where he'd most likely be. As usual, he let himself in, and sure enough, there Corey sat at his desk working on his laptop.

"Hey man!" Enzo's wide grin still hadn't left his face, and it could be heard in his voice. That's the first thing that Corey noticed. How much his voice sounded like a smile.

Enzo threw himself on Corey's couch, making himself comfortable and letting out an unnecessarily loud sigh.

"So how was your week, Graves?" Enzo didn't wait for an answer, "Mine was amazing. You wanna know why?" Again, he didn't give Enzo time to answer, "Because I spent it making out with Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns!"

Once again, Enzo could feel his grin widening. God, he probably looked stupid as hell. But he didn't care. He'd spent the week making out with Dean and Roman!

On one of the days, when Seth had forced them into some kind of productivity, Enzo and Roman had had another guitar lesson. Only the second one so far. Dean had once again sat across from them, ready to enjoy the impending failure, but the lesson hadn't exactly gone as planned.

It was a lot more fun being taught guitar when you were in love with the teacher and the audience, and they loved you back. Roman had gone up behind Enzo, maneuvering his fingers around the strings. Predictably, that hadn't lasted long, because when Enzo turned his head, Roman's lips had been _right there._ And it would have been a crime to just ignore that.

The guitar had clattered forgotten onto the floor very soon after that.

Enzo smiled as he remembered it, and how Dean had watched them kiss with a look of awe on his face before he jumped over the table to join them.

Enzo hadn't even realized that he had been telling this story out loud until he heard his own laugh. He looked to Corey for his reaction, and for the first time, his smile slipped slightly. Corey wasn't even looking at him.

"Hey dude." Enzo frowned, only now noticing that Corey wasn't as into this conversation as he was, "What's up? It's a happy day and you're here being all gloomy."

Still, Corey ignored him, staring at nothing on his computer screen.

Enzo sat up on the couch, his frown deepening, "Man, what's wrong? You okay? He was finally starting to notice the fact that Corey hadn't moved much since he'd come into this room. And that he was staring at that screen like he was gonna crack it. And that his fist was shaking on his lap. Enzo stood up, worried.

"Hey, Corey. What's wrong? You ain't said a word. I know I usually don't give ya a chance to talk but you're kinda scaring me right now. What's up?"

It's only when Enzo lay a hand on Corey's shoulder that he moved.

He jerked away as soon as Enzo touched him, and there was fire in his eyes as he stood, glaring down at him.

"Why the fuck are you here, Amore?"

Enzo almost stepped back at the pure hostility in Corey's voice and in his look.

"I... Wh-what?"

"I said why. The fuck. Are you here?"

Enzo just stared at him with wide eyes. He managed to let out a little chuckle, "Corey-"

"We're not friends Amore. We're just two dudes who used to fuck once in a while. You're with your boys now so that's not gonna happen, so why the fuck are you in my dressing room?"

"What are you talking about Corey?" Enzo couldn't fake a chuckle anymore, "We're... we're friends. You're my friend we weren't just-"

"We're not friends!" Corey yelled in his face, "We were never friends, can't you get that through your thick fucking skull?"

Enzo had to take a step back at the unexpected attack.

"You were a good fuck Amore, but that's all you were. A fuck. You must be a lot more stupid that you look if you thought there was more. And you know what? I'm happy for you, Enzo. I really am. Now you got Ambrose and Reigns so you can finally leave me the hell alone. Now you can go talk someone else ear off and whine to someone else about all you pathetic little sob stories, and you can finally leave me the hell alone."

Corey almost backed away when he heard the little shocked gasp that escaped Enzo as he looked at him with those big sad eyes. But he didn't let himself back down. Because he was feeling a lot too. And if he didn't let his anger out to him now, then he'd let something else out, and that couldn't happen. So he'd stop thinking about that look on Enzo's face, and that escaping tear that he had sworn he would never see again.

He'd stop thinking about that, because if he let himself...

"Get out Amore." His voice was now at a dangerous calm, "I finally got rid of you so how about you actually leave. I don't have to keep feeling sorry for you anymore, you got Ambrose and Reigns for that. his voice turned mocking, "Now they can hold you at night while you drink over all your suicide attempts and while they nurse your little scars, alright?"

Corey noticed a small flinch and a flash in Enzo's eyes. He let out a cruel chuckle.

"You haven't even told them, have you?" he shook his head. trying hard to ignore the tears pooling in Enzo's eyes, "You tell these guys you love them, and you let them say that they love you, and you haven't even told them all your dirty little secrets? God Amore, every time I think you can't get sadder... What, you think they won't be able to handle anymore of you being pathetically sad? You trying to spare them this last bit of you being pitiful? Well it's probably a good idea if you want to keep them around, don't you think?"

Enzo finally moved, shaking his head, "Why are you saying this to me?"

"Because it's the truth Enzo," Corey's glare didn't fade, "It's the truth and you know it. So you'd better start making sure your boys know it all before they keep declaring their unconditional love for someone they don't even fully know. And make it quick, because they're all you've got now. So run along to them and leave me the hell alone, you here me?"

Enzo stood frozen in from of Corey, his eyes wide, not believing what he was hearing. Just waiting for Corey to take it all back. It would all be fine if he took it all back. Please just take it all ba-

"Leave!"

Enzo stumbled back with a gasp, and his shaking legs finally backed away all the way to the door, where he managed to find the handle and throw himself out of that suffocating room. For a long time, he just stared at the door, his breaths deep and his eyes leaking. He couldn't have said how long he stood there. He probably would have stood for a long, long time, if it weren't for the sudden crash on the other side of the door that made him jump, and finally caused him to stumble away. As far away as he could from Corey Graves.

:::

RAW had been over for about a had hour, and Enzo was nowhere to be seen. Dean and Roman had looked just about everywhere and they still couldn't find him. Of course, both had an idea of where he was, but Corey Graves locker room was the last place either of them wanted to go look.

In their own locker room, while wondering about Enzo's whereabouts, Seth had laughed, wondering if he and Graves were having a final goodbye romp. He quickly found out that his humor was not appreciated when a gym bag was thrown at his face. Still, he hadn't stopped laughing at the looks of horror of Dean and Roman's faces. Seth at least had the sense to get out of their way until Enzo was found, so he headed back to Enzo's apartment without them.

But finding Enzo was taking longer than they thought it would, especially since he wasn't answering his phone. In the end, visiting Corey's room seemed unavoidable.

Enzo had already explained to them, a few times, that his thing with Corey hadn't involved any feelings at all. When a pouting Roman brought up the hospital room after Summerslam, Enzo had just laughed, explaining what Corey had really been doing. Helping Enzo. Neither man could really imagine Corey helping anyone with anything, but they took Enzo's word for it.

Roman totally believed Enzo when he said that there were no feelings involved. He totally did.

But that didn't mean that it was gonna be any easier knocking on the guy's door like they were... friends. After all, this was still the guy that had slept with Enzo time and time again when Roman himself couldn't. He had a right to be just a little resentful right? Just a little?

Roman sighed at himself. Thinking like this probably wasn't a great idea right now. Not when he was on his way to Corey's room right then. He was walking alone, Dean having gotten out of this by 'checking the cafeteria again'. Roman knew he was just avoiding having to deal with Graves, but he didn't call him out on it. He had had too good a week, so he'd let Dean's BS go for now.

Roman finally reached the door marked Çorey Graves. He gave a loud knock, expecting to hear Enzo's loud voice coming from inside. Instead, he heard a weak grunt, which he took as an invitation.

His eyebrows shot up when he opened the door to see Graves on a chair hunched over a desk, with his head in his hands.

"Listen Kurt, I know I didn't do anything today, and you can yell at me next week alright? I just-"

Corey froze when he looked up and saw that the person at his door was not his boss. and rather one of the two people he really, really didn't want to see.

"Uh. Hey."

Roman just stood at the doorway, raising a hand in a slight wave.

Corey couldn't help himself. He let out a low, humorless laugh, shaking his head. Great. This was just great.

Roman decided to ignore the strange vibe he was getting off Corey. He just cleared is throat.

"Hey, have you seen Enzo?" he said quickly. Just because he didn't outright hate the guy anymore didn't mean he wanted to spend any more time with him than he had to.

Corey looked at Roman through narrowed eyes before answering, "do I look like Amore's keeper to you?" he all but growled, "Why the fuck would I know where he is?"

Roman's eyebrows shot up. Well then. He wasn't expecting an olive branch of friendship, but the pure venom in his voice was still a little surprising.

"Okay dude, chill." Roman said, "He just said that he was gonna look for you earlier, and we haven't seen him since. I thought you might know."

"Well I don't." Corey spat.

Roman kissed his teeth, "Well alright then."

He would have loved to leave it at that. In fact, he probably _should_ have left It at that. But he still didn't know where Enzo was.

"Well do you know where he might be?" he asked, "did he even come here? He say anything about where-""

"For god's sake I don't know where he is!" Corey burst, "Now would you get the hell out?"

"Okay man, what the hell?" Roman glared back, not one to take being yelled at lightly, "Look, you don't like me. I get that."

"Well apparently you don't because you're still here." Grave said through gritted teeth.

Roman shook his head, "Okay this right here can't happen," he gestured between them, "Like I said, you don't like me. And I ain't so crazy about you either. But for Enzo's sake you gotta at least pretend that you don't hate my guts."

Surprisingly, Corey let out another, dark laugh, "For Enzo's sake," he repeated mockingly.

"Yes." Roman nodded curtly. Look, we're in his life now. And believe me we plan on staying. And you're his best friend, so we gotta at least be civil."

"Civil," he snorted.

"Civil." Roman repeated, "And trust me, it's gonna be a lot harder for Dean and me than it will be for you."

Corey blinked at Roman, looking a mix between exhausted and livid, "Oh I doubt that." he said simply.

Roman just rolled his eyes, and carried on, "But this isn't about us. You're still Enzo's friend-"

"Stop saying that." Corey said too soft for Roman to hear.

"And I think the least you can do is try not to hate me so such. At lest not in front of him. Because as his friend-"

"Stop saying that!" Corey finally burst, standing so quickly his chaos fell back, "Stop fucking saying that I'm his friend, I'm not his fucking friend!"

Roman was taken aback by the sudden yell, but not enough to back down.

"What the fuck do you mean, you're not his friend?" he scoffed.

Corey shook his head, opting to ignore the question, "Reigns I've had a long enough night, having your boyfriend in here yapping away, and now you. I'm just gonna tell you the same thing I told him. Leave. Me. Alone."

The anger that struck in Roman started to fade almost as soon as it started, giving way for him to start worrying. His other default emotion.

If Corey was saying this stuff to _him_ , how had his conversation with Enzo gone? What had they said?

Suddenly, Enzo's disappearance seemed like a bigger deal than they had originally thought.

"Graves what did you say to him?"Roman asked slowly, "When Enzo was here, what did you say?"

"What I say to Enzo has nothing to do with you." Graves said through gritted teeth.

"It has everything to do with me." Roman glared, "Enzo's happiness has everything to do with me, and it seems like you said something that's made him unhappy…" Roman shook his head, taking a deep breath, "Look Graves, you're his best friend. Having you around… it makes him happy. For some unimaginable reason, Enzo likes you."

God, this is not what Corey needed to be hearing right now.

"Hell, he won't let Dean or me say a bad word against you. And believe me, we've tried."

Corey _really_ didn't need to be hearing this right now.

"So whatever you two fought about, you need to fix it, because he needs you. You can't just ditch him because you don't like the guys he's with."

Corey clenched his teeth, "Wow, you sure do think a lot of yourselves, don't you."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Roman scoffed.

Corey just glared. He didn't want to deal with this anymore. He didn't want to have to deal with seeing him anymore than he had to.

"Get out Reigns." he said simply.

Roman gaped at him, "What the fuck man? What is your problem?"

"Get. Out."

"Alright, this is getting ridiculous. I'm just trying to have a civil conversation and you're-"

"For god's sake just leave!" Corey couldn't take his being here anymore, "Go! Go away to your boyfriends, and all of you can just leave me the hell alone. I don't want to see any of your faces!"

"Why?" Roman finally yelled back, "Why the hell do you hate us so much? Dean and I did nothing to you! If anyone has the right to hate anyone here, it's us. We're the ones who have to live with the fact that Enzo's best friend is someone who used to sleep with him! You think we like that? It fucking kills us!"

"It kills you? It kills _you_?"

"Hell yeah it does, but we'll live with it because we love Enzo. So you just have to learn to live with us too."

Corey just his head with a snarl, "You think that's how it works Reigns? You snap your fingers and we're one big happy family? No. No, you three can play along in whatever bullshit relationship you want, but you leave me the hell out of it."

"Graves you are his best friend!"

"Stop saying that!" he yelled, "Stop saying that! He and I are not friends! We are nothing! I don't want anything more to do with Amore!"

"How can you say that?" Roman shook his head, "After all the time you've spent with him, how can you say that about him?"

"Because he chose _you_!" Corey's yell seemed to echo around the whole arena, "Because he loves _you_ , and he doesn't love me! So I don't want to be his friend! I don't want to see his face. Or any of your faces, ever again! So for the last time, get. The hell. OUT!"

Roman stood frozen. Any rebuttal he had fell flat on his tongue.

What?

It seemed that Corey too was just realising what he had said out loud. He closed his eyes, leaning against the table behind him. For a long time, neither man said a word.

Neither had anything left to say.

"Just leave." Corey finally said softly, "Please just... just leave."

This time, Roman had no argument. He turned around, opening the door. He was halfway out when he heard him again.

"Roman." his voice was so soft Roman almost didn't hear. He turned around to see tired dark eyes looking at him.

"Please don't tell him."

Roman looked at Corey for a long time, before giving him a curt nod, and leaving the room.

He pretended not to hear the dry sob as he shut the door behind him.


	41. Broken Again

**Well, this story just keeps on going, doesn't it? I can't tell you guys how many times I'm like, 'Okay, a few more chapters ans we're done!'**

 **But then... that doesn't happen. But I gotta say, the end is near for Zo-Ro-Brose guys so stay with me okay?**

 **Okay, thank you.**

 **The next chapter will be out sooner than you think.**

 **(If you don't believe me, I totally get it, because I absolutely suck at this updating thing, I know, but trust me this time okay?)**

 **Okay, go read the chapter now. And don't forget to leave a review!**

 **:)**

 **-Leeh**

 **:::**

Roman walked away from Corey's room with a heavy heart. He wasn't particularly fond of the guy, but damn, he must've been going through hell. Loving someone who didn't love you was... hell. Roman knew that better than anyone, considering he had been going through the same thing only a week before. But he had had Dean with him. They had been miserable together.

Graves didn't have that.

And no matter how much Roman didn't like him, he still wouldn't wish that on anyone.

But at the same time... Roman couldn't bring himself to wish that things were different for him. Because then that would mean that Corey would be with Enzo... and Dean and Roman wouldn't. And there was no way in hell Roman could ever be okay with that.

Roman sighed deeply, feeling like absolute shit.

Luckily he didn't have to think about it for long, because just then, Dean came barrelling around a corner, slamming right into Roman's chest. Roman stumbled back, but managed to catch him just before they both fell.

"Whoaaa," he chuckled, his mood improving as soon as he saw him, "Slow it down will you?"

Dean grinned when he saw Roman, Where the hell have you been?" he asked, "Now I had to be looking for the both of you all over this place."

"Still no sign of him, huh?" Roman's smile started to fade, the worry for Enzo setting in again. The worry that had worsened since seeing Graves.

"No, nothing," Dean shook his head, "What did Graves say?"

This time Roman's smile vanished completely, "I... huh?"

"Graves. You went to ask him about Enzo, right?"

"Right," Roman nodded, "Yeah uh... he said he hasn't seen him."

In fact Corey had said a whole lot more than just that. A whole lot that Roman really didn't want to think about, much less talk about. But something as big as what Corey had told him... it just felt wrong to keep it from Dean. But then his broken voice came back to Roman. Asking him not to tell. The fact that someone as guarded as Graves had let that slip... in front of Roman of all people...

Just thinking about it too much made Roman feel like he was invading his privacy. So he would keep it to himself.

However, Roman had seemed to forget that Dean Ambrose could always see right through him.

Dean's eyes were narrowed as he stared at Roman, "Alright, what happened?"

Roman blinked. A few times, "What? I don't... I don't know what you mean." he stuttered, only succeeding in making himself even more suspicious.

Dean raised both eyebrows, "You look stupid when you lie you know."

Roman opened his mouth to protest, but was interrupted bu a loud ringing in Dean's pocket.

He let out a breath at dodging a bullet, but Dean's narrowed eyes never left him as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"Yeah?" he answered it crassly, eyes still on a fidgety Roman.

That's when his face changed. Finally looking away from Roman, Dean straightened up, his eyes widening and then narrowing in a frown.

"Wh- Seth?" he said into the phone, "Seth, I can't- what?"

Dean's frown kept getting deeper his eyes flashing to a now worried looking Roman.

"What wrong?" Roman asked. Dean just shook his head, trying to listen to the call. Roman could only hear what sounded like very fast talking on the other end. It almost sounded... panicked. That didn't sound like Seth at all.

After only a few seconds on not knowing, Roman couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed the phone from Dean's ear, putting the phone on loudspeaker.

"Seth, he said immediately, "Seth what's the matter." Roman could finally hear properly, and his heart grew tight. He and Dean locked wide worried eyes over the phone.

They could hear... crashing... and thudding... and banging.

And then Seth. Cool, calm, collected Seth's panicked voice.

"Guys? Guys you... you've gotta come home," he breathed into the phone, "You've got to come home _now._ "

:::

The ride back to the apartment was one of the longest Dean and Roman had ever had to go through. It seemed that every light turned red in front of them, and every slow driver was always before them, and every road bump seemed to multiply.

The tense silence in the car only made things worse, but both men knew that any talking that happened would only throw them into a further panic.

Roman's throat felt as tight as his grip on the steering wheel as he kept any words from clawing out of it.

His hands and feet were the only part of him that moved as he drove, staring straight ahead.

Dean, on the other hand, couldn't stop moving. His leg kept shaking up and down, no matter how much he clamped his hand down on it.

His hand would go from his leg to his chin to his hair to the dashboard to the window and back to his leg in the span of ten seconds.

Roman didn't tell him to calm down. Not when he himself was far from calm.

They were both close to a full blown panic. Because it was Enzo.

Seth hadn't said so, but he hadn't had to. Something was wrong with Enzo.

Something was wrong with Enzo...

"Roman what happened." Dean finally broke the silence with a desperate voice, "What happened?"

"I... I don't-"

"Don't tell me you don't know!" he said with a snap, "He was fine. Enzo was completely fine all night. And then he went to see Graves and now something is wrong. You gotta tell me what Corey said, Roman, you gotta tell me."

Roman's grip tightened so hard on the wheel he was sure he'd leave finger shaped indentations.

"Dean I… I don't know," he said softly, "I don't know what happened when Enzo was there."

"Then what happened when _you_ were there?"

Roman squeezed his eyes shut, but had to open them again, because he was driving. He finally took a deep breath.

"I'm pretty sure Corey said some... pretty hurtful things to Enzo."

Roman could see Dean staring at him from the corner of his eye, waiting for him to elaborate.

"He just kept saying that he and Enzo aren't friends."

"Of course they're friends," Dean said through gritted teeth, "Enzo always goes on about it."

"I know. I know, that's what I said. But Corey was pretty adamant. He... he said, 'I'm gonna tell you the same thing I told him. Leave me alone'. And... And he said he wanted nothing to do with Enzo. And he said..."

Roman stopped, his throat tightening up again.

Dean was still staring at him, "He said that stuff to Enzo?" he asked quietly.

Roman nodded, "I think he did. In unkinder words."

Dean shook his head, "Why would he do that? Why? I know the guys an asshole, but... but not to Enzo, right? Why... why would he say that? Roman he... Enzo can't lose another friend, okay? So why would Graves say that?"

Roman's eyes stayed right on the road, not moving a muscle, and trying not to give away that there was more.

But as always, Dean Ambrose could see right through him.

"Roman," the eyes that had never left the side of his face were piercing, "Roman why would Graves say that?"

Roman could finally see the apartment complex as he sped up still. But still those eyes never left him.

He let out a long sigh, "Because," he said with a gulp, "Because Corey loves him."

:::

 _*earlier that night*_

Corey hated him. He hated him.

Corey hated him.

Those are the words that had been on Enzo's mind ever since that door slammed in his face.

 _Corey hates me._

As he walked the hallways of the arena with his head down to hide his red eyes, that's all he could think. When his stumbling walk finally led him outside, and towards the road and into a cab, it's all he could think. As he finally got to his apartment and stumbled inside, that's all he could think. As he sat on the edge of his couch with his blurred eyes, it's all he could think.

 _Corey hates me._

And the worst part... the worst part wasn't the fact that Corey had called him nothing but a good fuck. Or that he'd yelled at him to leave him alone. Or the part where he called him whiny and pitiful and pathetic. Or the part where Corey had told him over and over and over again that he wasn't his friend. That he had never been his friend.

Even though all of that made Enzo's throat close up and made him have to slap tears off his face repeatedly, they weren't the worst part.

The worst part was that Enzo had been surprised.

He was actually surprised.

When Corey did what almost every friend he'd ever had did... he was surprised.

When Corey called him the names he had been called countless times before... he was surprised.

When Corey hurt him, and left him, just like everyone else did... he was surprised.

When the exact same thing that kept happening, happened, Enzo was surprised.

And _that_ was the absolute worst thing.

How many times did the same exact thing have to keep happening before Enzo stopped being naïve enough to think that some people could be different?

How many times did this have to happen?

Enzo didn't move from the couch for a long time.

The _Corey hates me_ chants that wouldn't leave his head were now accompanied by stabbing reminders of the one sided yelling match in his dressing room. Every remembered words came like a stab to his heart.

 _"You haven't even told them all your dirty little secrets?"_

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the thoughts.

 _"You think they won't be able to handle anymore of you being pathetically sad?"_

Enzo bit his lip until he could taste blood.

 _"You'd better start making sure your boys know it all before they start declaring their undying love for someone they don't even know."_

Enzo's head fell in his hands as the assault kept coming. Over and over the words stabbed at him like knives. It was all that was going through his head. All that he could think.

Until it stopped. It stopped, far too late. Enzo had spent far too long feeling sorry for himself, instead of realising.

Realising that Corey was right.

He was absolutely right.

So Enzo got up off the couch, slapping the last of the tears off his face.

Corey was right.

He walked with determination, because he knew exactly what he was going to do.

Because Enzo refused to be surprised ever again.


	42. Broken

When Seth arrived at the apartment, the lights were on, and he could hear a lot of bustling inside. He smiled.

See? Enzo was safe and sound here at home, just like he had told the stupidly worrying boys at the arena.

Seth had been right. As per usual.

Seth pulled out his phone as he opened the door, so that he could call the guys and let them know that Enzo was home.

His fingers froze as soon as the door was fully open.

…

What in the hell?

Seth's eyes looked over the living room, widening as they went. This place was a damn mess. And not the kind of mess it had been all week. not the mess that happened when everyone was too busy making out to pick up a box of pizza, or when no one could be bothered to vacuum because they wouldn't leave the bed. No this mess seemed deliberate.

There were boxes and cases on the floor, cupboards ripped open and drawers lying on the floor. This was like... moving out mess.

But instead of clothes and random belongings spilling out into boxes, there were pages upon pages of paper, toppling out of the boxes. The occasional bang and movement somewhere else in the apartment also really wasn't helping all of this make sense.

Seth's worry grew with every second that passed, and he finally called out, "Enzo? Are... are you in here?"

And that's when Enzo came.

"Oh Seth," Seth's head snapped up from the covered floor, and he saw Enzo standing just before the hallway. There was a file in his hands, busting to the brim.

"Uh... yeah." Seth blinked, "Yeah, hi. Wha... what's... what are you... uh..."

"Right I'm... I'm looking for some stuff." he said simply. He walked to the table with the file in his hands and set it down, brushing some strewn papers onto the floor. He opened the file, only to reveal more stacks. Seth watched him flip through them. Quickly.

A bit too quickly in his opinion.

The pages were blurs as Enzo went through them, so fast that Seth doubted he could even see what was on each individual paper.

And... and was Seth just a bit taken aback, or were Enzo's hands shaking? A lot.

Seth finally made it into the apartment, closing the door behind him. He dropped his duffel bag, still looking around at the indescribable mess.

"Enzo what... what are you doing?"

"I'm... I... I'm looking." Enzo said quickly, the words seeming to spill out of his mouth, "I'm looking for all the... all the stuff. I can't remember where I hid it all."

Seth frowned at his frantic searches.

"I never look for it all so I have... I have no clue where it is. I forgot where I put it all. I have to find all of them. I gotta find 'em."

Seth blinked as he kept staring at Enzo. At this point he didn't even seem to be taking to Seth anymore. Just repeating chants to himself. Chants that Seth was almost sure he had been saying for a while now.

"Enzo, are you okay?" he asked softly. He opened his mouth to say more, but then froze when Enzo's head snapped up to him. His eyes were wide. Far, far too wide, to the point of bulging.

"I'm good," he said, once again speaking too fast, "I'm good. Don't worry, I'm good."

Seth shook his head, "I... I don't think you are, man."

Enzo's lip twitched in what Seth thought was supposed to be a smile, "I'm fine, Rollins. I am. Don't worry, it's good, I got these."

He reached a definitely shaking hand into one of his pockets and pulled out a pill bottle. He shook the last two pills out and popped them into his mouth. And then he reached down to the floor where he picked up a bottle to wash the pills down with.

Seth's eyes widened when he realised that the bottle was Jack Daniels' whiskey.

"No no no, Enzo, no." he said quickly, "I really don't think you should be doing that."

But Enzo just kept on drinking from the bottle. Drinking way more than he needed for a couple of pills.

With his eyes still wide, Seth grabbed at the bottle, pulling it away from Enzo, accidentally getting some of the brown liquor onto the papers in front of him, "Okay, this is not okay," he said, feeling himself losing his calm more and more.

"No no it's fine!" Enzo assured him, his shaking hands and unblinking eyes very unconvincing, "It's fine they're pills for anxiety, see." He held up the now empty pill bottle for Seth to see, but it was shaking too much for him to read what was on it, "They calm me down, so I'm... I'm very calm. They're helping. It's helping, I'm fine."

Seth just stared at him incredulously.

"Oh, that reminds me! I need the prescriptions. I gotta… I gotta find the prescriptions, that's important." He was already walking away as he talked. "And also letters from those doctors. That should do it too."

He was still muttering as he turned the corner, leaving Seth with the half empty bottle of Jack, and strewn papers all around him.

He set the bottle down, wiping his hands down.

What in the hell?

Since when did Amore take anxiety pills? And how did he think it was a good idea to take them with alcohol?

And… why in the world would he be needing anxiety pills and alcohol in the first place?

It's then that Seth's eyes strayed down to the stacks of paper on the table.

It's then that he realized that although most of them were strewn about haphazardly, there was one pile that looked more or less organized.

Seth reached for it before he knew what he was doing. His eyes had only scanned through the first pages, and his eyes were widening.

What in the-

"No!" Seth let out a little gasp as he looked up at Enzo, who was hurrying towards him with another pile of papers, and another bottle of pills, "No no don't read that," he rushed out, "that's not for you, you can't see that stuff you ca-" he stopped suddenly, and Seth was too shook to say anything.

"Actually," Enzo said, his whole demeanour changing, "Maybe... maybe you should. Yeah. Yeah you… you should you definitely should, you gotta see this too probably." He was already turning around, even as he spoke, "You gotta know too, right? You you… yeah go ahead, read it." He was already around the corner, and Seth still hadn't moved.

He looked down again, and he suddenly really, really didn't want to go through the rest of this pile.

It was a really big pile. And judging by the nature of the first few pages, that observation suddenly seemed daunting.

But no matter how much Seth wanted to put the stack down, and no matter how much he knew he should go see to Enzo with the thudding and crashing that was happening in one of the other room, he turned another page.

And then another, and another, and another.

As he did, Enzo came zooming in and out of the room, taking papers and dropping stacks and muttering things Seth couldn't hear.

Seth only stopped reading when his hands were shaking too much, and he couldn't hold a page still anymore.

He looked up just in time to see Enzo zooming back out of the room, this time, the unattended bottle of whiskey in his hand.

Seth knew he should follow him. He knew now more than ever that he should follow him and get that bottle and those pills away from him. But at that moment, nothing in Seth's body wanted to move. Nothing except his shaking hand, which slipped into his pocket, taking the phone and shakily dialling a number.

"Yeah?"

Seth knew what he should say, and quickly, but his usually steady stream of thoughts had suddenly disappeared.

"Dean... Listen something's wrong. Very wrong. I don't know why he pulled all this stuff out, but he's looking for a lot of things and he told me to look through some and I did and I... I don't know what to do, I don't know what to say, I'm not... I don't know what I'm supposed to do right now, what do I do what must I say to him?"

Seth heard some speaking on the other end of the line but he couldn't even dwell on it.

"He's taking these pills like its candy and he shouldn't be doing that, and the whiskey too but I don't know what to say I don't know what to tell him after I saw all this... all this... all this-"

"Seth!" Seth was finally cut off, by Roman's stern voice, "Seth we can't understand what you're saying. What's the matter?"

Seth opened his mouth, but was cut off when a loud bang sounded from another room.

"I'm fine!" Enzo's voice shouted, "Don't worry I'm fine!" but he didn't sound fine as the bang was followed by a succession of thuds, and a crash. The distraction finally got Seth to think straight.

"Guys," he breathed into the phone, "Guys, you have to home. You have to come home, now."

It seemed like that call, or those crashes, is what Seth needed to snap out to whatever frozen state he had been in since entering the apartment. With still shaking fingers, Seth slid his phone back into his pocket. He stood up, having to mentally keep himself steady. He made his way over to the hallway, taking the pile in his hands with him.

He found Enzo half inside the hallway closet, surrounded by the boxes Seth assumed had fallen. Enzo was already going through more pages, his wide eyed, unblinking face not changed. The bottle of whiskey next to him looking emptier, and the bottle of pills fallen over with the white tablets spilling out.

Seth doubted he noticed, or at this point, cared.

Once he got close enough, Seth sank to his knees in front of Enzo. He knew he should say something, but for once, he didn't know what. So he just sat there. He also noticed that Enzo was pointedly avoiding looking at him. Instead, once every few seconds his eyes would dart to the pages of paper in Seth's hands.

After a while of silence, Enzo spoke, still not looking up.

"You... you read it all?"

Something in his voice made Seth think that he regretted letting him read it. And honestly, Seth could understand why.

"Most of it," he said quietly.

Enzo was silent for another while, no longer looking through anything. He seemed frozen, and Seth didn't think he'd speak again. So he decided he probably should instead.

"Is there anything I can help with?" he asked, the question seeming useless as soon as it was out.

But then Enzo finally looked up at him, his eyes still wide, but different this time. His face almost seemed to be filled with surprise for some reason. Seth couldn't for the life of him figure out why.

"Help?" Enzo finally said softly.

Seth nodded, "Yeah. Yeah, with whatever you're looking for."

Enzo stared at him for a while, the surprise on his face still showing. He finally shook his head.

"No. No, you just... just sitting there is good."

So Seth forced a smile and nodded. And Enzo kept looking, while he just sat there.

That's how Dean and Roman found them a while later.

They tore through the door frantically, stopping in their tracks at the sight in front of them. But they only allowed themselves a second before they started calling out for Enzo.

They sure hadn't expected to see him sitting with Seth in the middle of a bunch of boxes and papers.

They also certainly hadn't been expecting to see him smile.

"H-hey!" Enzo grinned up at them, his voice slightly slurring, "Hey! You're back! How... how was the rest of the night?"

Dean and Roman didn't answer him, opting instead to keep staring in confusion.

This... this was not what they had been expecting. Not after that frantic call from Seth.

Roman was the first to move forward, stopping in front of Enzo and kneeling on some pages.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly, placing a hand on Enzo's check. Enzo's false grin only widened, and he grabbed onto hand on his cheek, "Yeah I'm fine, I'm great."

Roman didn't believe him anyway, but the way Enzo's hand was so tight around his made him all the more worried.

Enzo looked over Roman's shoulder at where Dean was standing, "I'm good! Really, I just... I left early to get some... air. And then I came home to..., well." he gestured around him at the mess to finish his sentence.

"Okay..."Dean said slowly as he knelt down next to Roman, "And what is... _this_ exactly?"

"Right!" Enzo nodded, as if only now realising he should explain," he cleared his throat, and spread his arms like he was announcing an exhibit, "This right here is everything that's wrong with me."

The announcement was followed by a silence. A long silence and Enzo's unnatural smile.

It was finally broken by Seth.

"I'm... I'm gonna go and make some coffee. Or tea, I think." he walked away from the three, hoping that speaking alone would do them good.

Once Seth was gone, the confusion from Roman and Dean was even worse as they stared at the fidgety man in front of them.

"Enzo what are you talking about?" Dean asked.

Enzo cleared his throat again, "Remember that time at Jimmy and Jey's party with... with Cass yelling in the kitchen?" he picked at a thread on his shorts as he spoke, "And then afterwards you... you said that I didn't have to tell you guys anything if I didn't want to, and I appreciate that. But I just... I just thought it's about time, you know? So... so this is all of it."

Roman and Dean stared at him, and then at each other and then back at him.

"Enzo that's... that's great." Roman said with a soft voice, trying to counter the jittery man in front of him, "But I'm just wondering... like..."

"Why?" Dean finished for him.

Enzo shrugged, quickly, his hand moving from his shorts to a broken piece of tile next to him, "I just... I just figured it's time, you know? And... And besides, you guys... you said that... that you love me. Remember that? You said you loved me."

"We do, 'Zo." Dean said, sitting down properly, "And you know we mean it."

Enzo nodded quickly, blinking his eyes way too much, "Yeah but... but I was thinking. How can you know that for sure when you... when you don't even know me?"

"We know you, Enzo," Roman said firmly.

"Not all of me," he argued, the grin he had plastered onto his face was gone now, "And that's important right? To know someone before you can say you love them and... And you guys don't know me yet. And Corey said-" Enzo cut himself off as soon as the name was out of his mouth, He shook his head, clearing his throat, ""I just... I just really think it's time you know everything."

Dean and Roman glanced at each other. They hadn't known what to expect when Seth called them, but this wasn't it. This sudden will to tell all? Something didn't seem right. And their thoughts were only confirmed by the way he clammed up at just the mention of Corey. And the way he kept jittering around, and his eyes that were either blinking too much or not at all, and the death grip he still had on Roman's hand... something was not right.

They looked back at Enzo, and Roman's hand, still on his face, stroked his cheek softly, "'Zo we're real glad you wanna start talking, okay? But, I think maybe right now is not the right time."

"Yeah man. Maybe you should sleep a little, okay. And when you wake up-"

"I don't need to sleep," Enzo said quickly, "I'm fine. I swear I'm perfectly fine. I am. Look, I've... I've been taking these, see?" he turned abruptly, searching the ground, and then snatched up the bottle of pills, "See? I took a few already. Well... well probably more than a few... but it's helped! It calmed me down a whole lot. It really did. And I'm gonna start taking them regularly now, okay? Like I'm supposed to."

"Enzo-"

"Well technically I'm… I'm _not_ supposed to. The doctor stopped giving me prescriptions after… after the overdose." he tried to ignore the widening eyes on Roman and Dean as he talked, and he just kept going, "Well, at least after the second one," he looked down as eh said it, "After that he stopped believing that it was an accident. Which is weird because I'm usually really really good at lying."

He let out a choked out laugh. He didn't know if he was trying to lift the mood, or if he hoped Roman and Dean would join him. But even in his pilled up, intoxicated state, Enzo knew that this was no laughing matter, and the looks on their faces only confirmed it.

Enzo wanted to stop. He so wanted to stop so that they'd stop looking at him like that, but Corey had said….

He shook his head at himself. He couldn't stop.

"I won't do it again though," he said softly, "I… I won't overdose; I'll take them moderately just to calm me down. Only for that. And… and I should probably stop taking them with whiskey too…" he grabbed the bottle that they hadn't yet noticed, and set it front of him, trying to ignore their looks of shock, "I'll stop doing that too, I promise."

"Alright Enzo, how many pills did you take?" Roman was the first to speak, trying to keep his voice steady despite what he'd already heard, "I think we need to get you some water, alright? And get you to sleep. Let's get you to sleep and we can talk tomo-"

"No!" Enzo said in a sudden snap, "no, it's gotta be today. It's gotta be now. If I don't get this out now I probably never will, and you need to know, okay? You need to know!"

"Enzo-"

"Like here," he got up on his knees and grabbed a far off pile, "This right here is the details of all- of all the foster homes I was at, and, and then the reasons they all kicked me out." He shoved pages into Dean and Roman's hands, "They weren't too bad," he shrugged, "A lot of them got rid of me as soon as possible but… but most of them kept me around a bit longer so they'd keep getting paid."

Enzo ruffled through more papers while Dean and Roman glanced at the pages in their hands.

These were all his foster homes? This… this was a lot. They knew he'd grown up in foster homes, but this pile indicated at ten… maybe even fifteen or more. Fifteen homes.

"Here!" Enzo brandished up a pare, snapping Roman and Dean out of their thoughts, "here are all the prescription slips." Without even looking up, he gave a crumpled up stack to Dean, and another to Roman, "Xanax and anti-depressants and all that stuff."

He was still ruffling through the piles surrounding him as he spoke, finding pages and throwing them at the frozen men before him.

"-This… this is the letter from the psychiatrist that first diagnosed me with an anxiety disorder."

"-This is my mom's death certificate. It's the last thing the hospital gave me after she died."

"-This is when the high school councillor had me referred to a psychologist because he didn't want to deal with me anymore."

Over and over again, Enzo pulled out pages, throwing them at Dean and Roman as they sat stunned, catching a few glances of each piece before having another shoved in their hands.

They... they knew that Enzo had been through a lot. They had known that he had a lot on his mind. They knew that there was a lot to him that they still hadn't known.

But this… all this that he was telling them. All this that he was forcing out… it was so much more than they had been prepared for.

And he just kept going, until his shaking hands wouldn't even hand over the pages of paper properly anymore. Until his voice trembled so much they could hardly tell his words apart.

He was picking himself apart, piece by piece; right in front of them, and Dean and Roman could do nothing but watch him, and listen.

"This is- this is from wh-when I was sent to Doctor Carlyle." Enzo said, "She was the psychiatrist in the hospital when I tried to.. to… you know. A-Apparently doctors have to send all suicide attempts up to the Psych ward. You know, to make sure they don't try again. Usually people don't gotta carry on with therapy once they leave the hospital but didn't really give me a choice. Especially since Mama made me carry on. You know, because… because of the cuts…"

"The cuts?" Dean choked out before he could stop himself.

Enzo stopped moving around. He swallowed hard. Right. Right, he needed to tell them about the cuts.

He turned to look at Dean and Roman, and the looks of heart-breaking shock on their faces made him want to look away.

They knew about the attempted suicides. Both of them. That fact alone made Enzo want to look away, but he couldn't bring himself to. If they turned away from him now, he wanted to see it coming. He wouldn't see it coming if he didn't look, so he kept his eyes on them.

"The cuts." He said softly, "I… that's… that's how I … you know. I... I took pills and the whiskey and I… I…" he swallowed hard, not knowing how to look these men in the eye and tell them about the time he'd wanted to die so badly that he'd taken it into his own hands.

But this is what this was about. It was about telling them, no matter how much he didn't want to. They needed to know.

"After a really bad nightmare," Enzo forced himself to carry on, "I took a bottle of pills with a bottle of Jack. It makes your blood thin, you know. Makes bleeding out a lot easier. A lot faster. Well, not fast enough anyway, because Cass found me and took me to the hospital. They patched me right up. Sent me to a shrink and gave me more pills, and then I was fine. And then I did it again a year later. And it didn't work. Again."

Enzo tried to ignore the way Roman's jaw was shaking, or the way Dean had started to pull on his hair.

He tried not to think about how much this was distressing them, and how much they were keeping in. Because he wasn't even done yet.

"And then I tried again." He whispered, "Twice after that." The already wide eyes froze on him, as Enzo uttered the words. Said the thing he had never told anyone before. Not Cass. Not Corey. Not even his family. He never even let himself think about it. and now here he was… saying it out loud.

"I didn't want to keep hurting Mama and Leah," his voice shook hard as he spoke, "So… so I tried to make it look like an accident. I jumped off a bridge. It... It wasn't high enough apparently cause- cause I only got a sprained wrist and ankle, and a concussion. And then… then I got black out drunk, and drove my car off a pier into a lake. That didn't work either; I was near a fire station."

Enzo's eyes were gleaming as he finished with a croak. He could see tears threatening to fall from Roman's eyes, and right then, Enzo hated himself even more for making someone like him want to cry. Dean's fist was pressed against his mouth. He didn't know if he was biting his fist to stop it from shaking, or if his fist was keeping his mouth from trembling.

Either way, he was distressed. They were both heartbreakingly distressed. Because of Enzo.

But he still didn't look away from them.

And they never looked away from him.

Enzo's nails dug into the palms of his hands.

"So that's just about everything," he shuddered, "I just... I wanted you to know, you know?" his voice was shivering as he spoke, worse than when he had started, "I thought you should probably know all my issues, and know about… about everything that's messed me up so much. You gotta know before... before this... whatever this is... before it goes anywhere else, you needed to know just how screwed up it gets, alright?" his voice cracked, and he sank back further, "Because... because if you're gonna be stuck with a suicidal self-harming freak, you should at least know all the details, right? Y-you know all there is to it now. So… so... so there it is. There you go. Now you know. So if you wanna just call this off right now," Enzo had to dig his nails into his thigh to carry on; "If you want to call this off…I get it. Okay? You don't gotta feel bad, I get it. I totally get it alright. I won't get mad. I won't. It's... it's actually probably best that you do it now rather than later because... because I won't be able to take it then. I won't. So just do it now, okay? Please just... just end it now if you wanna. End it now. But just... just..." he shook his head as his voice finally gave up on him, "Just please don't." he whispered with a broken sob, "P-please don't. I don't want to lose you, okay? Cause I love you. I really, really love you guys so fucking much and I don't want to lose this, I won't be able to take it. I... won't. I can't. You can't leave me. Please... please don't leave me I'll do better. I'll be better, okay? Please, I promise I'll be better."

Enzo couldn't get anything else out as he closed his eyes, his head falling forward.

He would have probably fallen over, were it not for the arms that were suddenly around him.

It's only then that the tears finally escaped, and Enzo sobbed into the shoulder in front of him.

Dean's arms tightened around Enzo as his body shook from the sobs that tore through his body. He didn't say anything. He couldn't have said anything even if he wanted to. So he just held him, his own body shaking hard. Whether the shakes were Enzo's or his own, he didn't know.

Dean's eyes were tightly shut, fighting back his own tears. The fight got even harder when another pair of arms joined them.

Roman wound an arm tightly around Enzo, and his other arm held Dean.

Enzo finally managed to move his arms, finding one around Dean's waist and another around Roman's.

"Please." Enzo's voice could be heard through his painful cries, "please, please, please don't leave me."

"Shh," Roman hushed, his hand reached up to hold the back of his head, stroking his hair, "Shh, it's okay baby. It's okay." He swallowed trying to hide the shake in his own voice. But the tears streaming down his face were making it really hard.

He pressed his cheek against the side of Enzo's head, "We're not going anywhere, Enzo. We love you. We love you so much. And we're not going anywhere. We won't leave you. We'll never leave you. We'll never leave you."

Enzo didn't stop crying. He didn't stop crying for a long time. None of them did.

But Roman never stopped promising him. Telling him that he and Dean would never leave him. And he would keep saying it, again and again, until he knew without a doubt that Enzo believed him.


End file.
